Murder & Perfection
by Random-1985
Summary: Beckett and Castle are solving a murder, while battling their own personal thoughts. Will this be the case that brings them together? Not set at any particular time. Rated M to be safe. Final chapters 15 & 16 now added.
1. Chapter 1

****Multi-chapter story. I'll post a chapter a day. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Dude, what's that suitcase there in that bin. That looks like one of them Gucci suitcases or something".

The two teenage boys walk down the dimly lit alley to get a closer look.

"My girlfriend would love this. It barely looks used," one said as they inspected the outside of the case. "Quick, help me pull it out"

The teens found two crates to step up onto to lift themselves up higher to get a better grip on the suitcase. "A bit of a clean and this will look brand new."

"You let me have this one, and I promise I'll have Nadia find a single friend for you so we can go on a double date. I know how long you've been single, it's time you got yourself a girl!"

"Ok, deal. Nadia better have hot friends though!" he replied laughing.

The boys started to lift the case out of the bin.

"This things heavy man, it's like someone has filled it with a ton of bricks or something," one stated. "I wonder what's inside"

"I dunno. Hey, maybe we should leave it and just get out of here," the other teen said. He was beginning to feel a little nervous about this whole thing. "We're in a dark alley, we've found an extremely heavy suitcase that looks like it probably wasn't meant to be thrown out. If this was a movie, there would be a dead…"

It was too late, his friend had already started to open the case. He pulled out his torch to see closer. Both boys moved their faces closer, it just looked like a bunch of bubble wrap, but what was it covering, it was much too heavy to be simple bubble wrap. As their faces were almost touching the article inside the case, they realised what it was.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" they both screamed. Inside the case was a body wrapped completely in bubble wrap and taped up.

* * *

Beckett was so happy to be at home so early in the evening. They had finally closed a case they had been working on for a couple of weeks. It was a difficult one for Beckett and the guys. Gates could see it had been hard on them, so she said as long as there were no new cases they could go home and get a good nights rest. Beckett often wouldn't get home til late evening, and a good nights rest was something she didn't seem to know much about these days.

Today she was home by 5:00pm. First up, dinner! It wasn't often that she was home to eat, so she knew it wasn't even worth looking in her fridge for something. She ordered some Thai food and had it delivered to her door.

As she sat there eating her Thai, she began to realise how empty her apartment was. When she was at the precinct, there were people everywhere. She barely had a moment to herself. Especially with writer-boy Castle following her around. She couldn't go anywhere without him following, she would often find herself going into the ladies bathroom just to get a few minutes of peace and quiet. Though sometimes she even worried that he would follow her in there. Now she was home, she was alone, she had the whole evening to herself but... she didn't want to be alone. She wished there was someone else with her. Not just anyone, she wished Castle was there with her.

"Castle?" she thought to herself. "I want Castle here? No, that can't be right. I think he's spent too much time playing games with my head that now his games are following me home."

Castle was the most annoying person she had ever come across really. He was always interfering with her cases, always thought that his crazy theories were the right ones. Ok, so most of the time, he got it right. But still, that didn't make him any less annoying. Maybe he was just annoyingly helpful. Yes, that's right. He was annoyingly helpful in an adorable kind of way.

"Woah! Slow down Kate," she thought again to herself. "Adorable? You think Castle is adorable?"

It was true. He kind of was in his own little way.

With all the work that Kate did, she had never allowed herself to really have any time to think. These thoughts were coming as a surprise to her tonight. She knew the guy had grown on her, but she didn't realise how much he had grown on her.

She continued to eat her Thai and was running through the past few years in her head. She was beginning to realise just how much she had let Castle into her life. It became apparent that she had let him in a lot more than she was really aware of. He probably knew her better than she knew herself.

"Wow!" she thought. "He really does know me, and he hasn't run away." She was quite taken aback by her revelation. "And… I haven't run away from him!" She began to realise that maybe their partnership was more than she thought it was.

Once she had eaten enough Thai she put the leftovers in the fridge. She could take it into work tomorrow and eat it for lunch.

The next thing Beckett was glad to be able to do tonight was have a relaxing bath. It was one of her favourite things, being able to relax in a nice hot bathtub, filled with bubbles, with a book and a glass of wine. She would stay in there until the water began to feel cold and her toes were wrinkly.

She filled the bathtub to the brim, removed her clothing and stepped in. The water temperature was perfect. What would make it more perfect would be if Castle were in the tub with her.

"What…? Castle...? Again…?" she thought.

He had taken over her thoughts. She couldn't get rid of him. It was true though. The thought of having Castle in the bathtub with her did make her smile. She could just picture them both in there, her legs wrapped around his body while she ran her fingers through his hair, his gorgeous thick brown hair. She pictured them both sitting in the tub, him leaning back against her as she ran the soapy sponge along his stomach, his amazingly toned stomach. She had never seen him shirtless so she didn't know exactly how toned he was, but there had been those times during a case where they found themselves leaning up against each other, she knew he was nicely figured… and this was her imagination so she could imagine him however she liked. She closed her eyes and saw his face, his eyes that looked at her so lovingly, his smile that made her heart melt, and those lips… Those lips that just looked so perfect and soft and… kissable.

"Ok… that's enough," she said out loud. She could not control her thoughts tonight. What was wrong with her? Her thoughts had gone much further than she would normally allow. She had started to feel the butterflies in her stomach and could feel heat had risen to her cheeks. Lucky for her, she was alone and there was no one to ask her why she was blushing.

She didn't even bother reading her book tonight. She did not trust her thoughts to not take her away again, so she hopped out of the tub, and found some comfortable clothes to wear and decided to sit down and watch a movie. She was just about to put the movie on when she had a thought.

"Maybe I should invite Rick to accompany me while watching my movie. It's not often we have time to relax after a case. There's usually always another body dropping just as we're finishing a case, and it'd be nice to be able to spend some more time with him, while not on a case or going to one of his fancy book launches. We can just hang out and be ourselves. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that," she thought.

She got up to get her phone and as she was about to make the call, her phone started ringing.

"Beckett," she answered. "I'll be there in 15mins".

Well, the movie and the invite were going to have to wait for another time. Another body had dropped and she was needed at the crime scene right away.

* * *

"Dad?" Alexis called from her bedroom. "Is that you?"

"Well who else would it be?" Castle called back as he closed the front door behind him.

Alexis came running down the stairs. "Home before 5pm dad? Did Beckett finally get sick of you and tell you to go home? You haven't been home this early in a while."

Castle held his daughters face and kissed her on the forehead. "No," he said. "We closed the case that we'd been working on… finally. And Gates told us we could go home as long as no more bodies dropped. And guess what… no more bodies dropped."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her father and gave him a hug.

Castle loved his daughter, and one of the things he loved most, was her hugs. They always lifted him up when he was down. And if he was tired, his daughters smile was always give him that extra energy burst he needed to keep going. This was one of those moments. He had gotten home and was ready to just jump into bed straight away but when Alexis hugged him, it was like her energy jumped into his body.

"Well, it looks like we've got the evening together, what do you want to do?" Castle asked.

"Richard… Richard darling," Castle heard his mother calling as she came out from the bathroom.

"Hello mother," he said.

"Richard how was your day? Did you catch that guy yet?"

"We caught him, and actually, it was a young lady, Beckett and I were both very surprised when we figured it out," he said with a smile.

"So, is it safe for me to go walking around the neighbourhood again?" his mother asked.

"Mother, if there's one thing I've learnt working with the NYPD. It's that nobody is ever really 100% safe, and sometimes the people we think are least likely to be killers, are the killers. Really, any one of us could be. " He started speaking with a low and evil voice, and put on his best bad guy look. "Even me." He turned to his daughter, picked her up over his shoulder and ran about the apartment, Alexis giggling like crazy.

He came to a sudden stop when he bumped his knee into a table, then he limped over the lounge and put Alexis down.

"Oh Richard, really?", Martha said, and she made her way into the kitchen.

"You know I would never hurt you, mother," he called after her, "or Alexis"

"I don't think you could hurt anyone, dad!" Alexis commented.

Alexis loved it when she got to spend time with her father like this. He was working so much these days, it was like they barely had much time together. She missed it. She knew that sometimes he really had to grow up and act less like a 5 year old and more the mature grown man he should be. But she also loved that they could act like 5 year olds together.

"So dad, I was thinking, since you and grams are both home tonight. We should have a family games night."

"Sounds grand!" said Martha returning from the kitchen. "But first, we should eat. I have lasagna, just finishing in the oven. What's Beckett doing tonight Richard?"

"Um... she said she was going home to relax, I think she is really worn out from the case."

"Well we have plenty of lasagna here if you think she'll want to join us," Martha stated. She knew that her son had a soft spot for Detective Beckett. And although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she had grown quite fond of the detective herself, and she knew Alexis really looked up to her. She would be the perfect addition to the family really. Martha knew it was just a matter of time.

"Um… yeah, you know what mother, I have spent almost all my time with her the last couple of weeks, I think I'll let her take a break from me. I really think she needs it. It'll be nice with just the three of us tonight."

A part of Castle did want to invite Detective Beckett for dinner, but he could still remember the look on her face as they left the precinct earlier in the day. She just looked worn out. She still looked absolutely beautiful, her eyes sparkled more than anyone else he'd ever known, and her smile warmed his heart, but he knew she needed rest. Plus he didn't want to push things with her. He was slowly warming her up to him. He knew it was working because she was becoming more and more open with him every week. And he often caught her watching him from a distance, or smiling away from him when he said something that she thought was cute, but didn't want him to know. There were also the times where she would _accidently _and even sometimes _purposefully _touch his hand or make some other sort of physical contact. The give away was when she bit her bottom lip, it was like her nervous give-away sign that showed she was falling for him. Of course, she didn't realise that he noticed all these things, but he did. And he was filing them away in his mind, waiting until the right moment for him to make his move. He didn't want to move too soon and frighten her away. He knew there would be a time though, and he would wait until he knew it was right.

Alexis and Castle prepared a salad to go with the lasagna and they all sat down to eat.

Once all the dishes were in the dishwasher, they went to the lounge room.

"So what game do you have in mind tonight?" Castle asked his daughter.

"Well, I was thinking, since grams is here with us, we should put her acting skills to the test. Let's play Charades," she said with a smile, and she went to the cupboard to find the board game.

"Oh goody, I love Charades," Martha responded.

"Watch it mother," Castle said laughing, "you sound like me when I get excited for a game. And you always tell me I sound like a 5 year old"

Martha gave him a look, and rolled her eyes.

"Castle 1, mother 0," he thought to himself.

Alexis returned with the game and started to set it out on the table when Castle's phone rang. She stopped and looked at her father, "it's Beckett, isn't it?"

Castle picked up the phone and nodded. "Castle," he answered. "Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Looks like we're going to have to postpone our game," he said to his mother and daughter. He felt bad leaving now, but it was Beckett, it was a new case, he just couldn't say no.

"That's ok dad," replied Alexis, "Beckett needs you."

"I'm sorry," he said, and he kissed both his daughter and mother on the cheek as he picked up his jacket and headed towards the door.

As Castle left and closed the door behind him Alexis turned to her grandma. "When is he just going to tell Beckett how he feels?"

"Give it time," said Martha. "Give it time."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Castle and Beckett arrived at the scene at the same time. Castle stepped out of his cab, paid the driver and walked towards Beckett who was just stepping out of her car. He gave her a nod and a smile and they started walking towards Lanie.

"So Castle, I hope I didn't interrupt anything tonight," she said with a cheeky grin.

"Just having a family night in actually," he said with a smile back.

"Oh Castle, I'm sorry I took you away from that, I could have come out here without you tonight Castle. I would have updated you tomorrow." She felt bad taking him away from his family. She knew how much he loved his daughter and mother, but she was happy that he came. After the thoughts she'd been having that evening, she was glad to be rid of them and was back in reality.

"You, come here without me?" Castle said. "Not a chance Detective Beckett. You need me."

Beckett turned her head away from Castle. There it was, that grin that she had when she was trying not to let him know that there was truth in his words.

"Lanie," Beckett called, "what do we know?"

Lanie left Esposito and Ryan with the body in the case and walked towards Beckett.

"Not a lot right now Kate," she said. "It appears to be a young woman wrapped in bubble wrap. I don't want to open it here because who knows what could be trapped in there with the body."

"It's always good to be safe," Castle interrupted matter-of-factly.

"Yes Castle," Beckett said, looking back to Lanie to continue.

"The two teenage boys over there found the body in this dumpster here, Esposito and Ryan have said they will have a look through the dumpster but it's getting dark, they're not sure they're going to find much in this light."

"Has anyone spoken to the two teens yet?" Kate asked.

"No, not yet" Lanie replied. "They have just sat on the floor over there in silence since I got here. I think this has really freaked them out"

Beckett looked towards where Lanie had pointed, she saw the boys crouched on the floor, knees up at their chests, they really did look scared.

"Esposito! Ryan!" she called.

The two detectives walked away from the suitcase and towards Beckett.

"Take Castle, and go talk to the boys, see if they will tell you anything about how they found the case, and the body, or if they remember seeing anything else suspicious."

"Sure thing," replied Ryan, and the three men started heading over to the boys.

"And Castle, no jokes, this is serious stuff." She knew he always behaved in these situations, but with the three of them together, she felt the need to remind him, and she liked to let him know that she was in charge.

Now, with Castle, Esposito and Ryan talking to the boys, she was left to have a chat with Lanie. She knew she needed to talk, someone needed to snap her out of whatever she was going through. The last thing she needed was for her thoughts to start distracting her from the case. They never had done before, but they had never been quite as bad as they had been today.

"Hey Lanie," Beckett called her over.

"I don't really have much more information at the moment Kate, I wont until I take the body to the morgue"

"No, no. It's not about the body. This is about…" she stopped herself. Did she really want to admit to her best friend what she was thinking today.

"Kate? What is it?" Lanie was worried. Her friend was holding back. Lanie knew that whenever Kate was holding back, it was something she needed to share, and she needed to share it now. "Kate? You can't just start saying something and then stop… you want to talk about something?" she asked.

"Castle." Kate said quickly.

Lanie looked behind her, thinking that Castle was coming up behind her and that's why Kate had stopped talking. She then spotted Castle was still off with the guys talking to the teens.

"Castle is with the guys Beckett. What do you want to talk to me about?"

Kate breathed slowly. "Castle. Castle is what I want to talk to you about."

"Girl, is something happening between you and Castle? I noticed you two arrived at the same time. Did you come in separate cars to hide the fact that you were both together tonight?" Lanie thought she was onto something.

"No," Beckett laughed, and lightly slapped her friend on the shoulder. If we were together we would have left like 15 minutes apart from each other to make it less obvious.

"So you've thought about things like this before."

"No," Beckett continued, shaking her head. "It's just… I think I like him!" She spoke really fast and felt herself blushing instantly.

"Tell me something I don't already know Kate!"

"What?" she looked surprised.

"Seriously, you think we don't notice the way you two look at each other. The way you constantly flirt with each other, and your arguments like you're an old married couple. It really is quite cute Kate."

"Oh," Kate replied feeling a little embarrassed and looking at the floor. "Well it's just that while I was at home tonight. I found myself wishing he were there, _wanting_ him there, almost _needing_ him there. My imagination was going crazy, I couldn't stop it. I can't work while my head is thinking like this. What do I do?"

"Go get him girl!" Lanie responded as Kate lifted her head to look up at her friend. Lanie smiled at her. "It's about time!"

Both the women turned and watched the guys as they questioned the two teens. Castle had actually sat himself next to the boys. He was comforting them, like a father would. He really was a sweet, caring man, but he wouldn't let many people see that side of him. Kate watched and smiled at him from a distance. He had no idea he was being watched, he was paying so much attention to the teens.

Esposito lifted his head, turned to the women and noticed the smile on Beckett's face and saw who she was watching and smiling at. Kate was caught off guard and quickly turned her head away and started walking towards the body. Lanie looked at Esposito, smiled and raised her eyebrows as if to say "it's time".

The guys had finished talking to the teens, Lanie had taken the body away and Castle and Beckett were just about to leave when Esposito came up to Beckett and whispered in her ear.

"Don't think you can hide from him forever Beckett", he said and he looked towards Castle.

Beckett knew exactly what he was talking about. She bit her bottom lip and turned to Castle.

"Ok, Castle, not a lot we can do tonight. The boys will search the place and we'll work on it tomorrow. C'mon I'll drop you back home"

Castle loved it when she offered to take him home. It was always the perfect opportunity for him to tease. "I can catch a cab, unless of course, there's another reason _you_ want to take me home," he said.

Beckett gave a gentle push to his shoulder. "Castle! I'm just saving you the hassle of another taxi ride, and I've gotta go past your house anyways."

"No you don't, you just want to spend more time with me."

"Ok, I have to go on a slight detour. So what! Do you want a lift or not?" She paused and looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"I would never say no to you detective," he said and they continued towards the car.

Beckett dropped Castle back at the loft before heading back to her own place. She didn't want to rush the things she needed to talk to him about, and she knew there was not enough time on the trip home.

"Goodnight Castle," she said as he stepped out of her car.

"See you tomorrow detective," Castle responded with a smile.

Beckett watched as Castle entered the building. She sighed. He really is a great guy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Castle and Beckett wanted to get an early start and had planned to meet at the precinct early. Castle came in with 2 coffees in hand as usual. He placed one on Beckett's desk and turned to Esposito asking "Where's Beckett?"

"In Gates' office", replied the detective.

Castle nodded and sat down in his chair next to her desk. That's right, he had his own chair that was always there. For some reason this made him feel pretty special. It meant that she wanted him there. If she didn't, she would remove the chair, right?

"Beckett really does love having me around," he thought to himself.

He sat and watched his partner through the glass window wondering what Gates was talking about. He then looked at the murder board, and saw there was very little on there. All they had was the picture of the body as it was found and the time they received the call. No name, no information. Nothing. Maybe that was it, maybe Gates wasn't happy that they didn't find out more last night.

Castle turned back to watch his partner. Gates didn't look too angry, maybe it wasn't about the case at all. Maybe they were just having a chat. No, wait, Gates and Beckett don't just chat. Whatever it was they were talking about, it didn't seem to have either of them upset. Neither of them looked as if they were being defensive. Castle had learnt through his research on body language that crossed arms meant that you weren't opening up completely or you were being defensive. And neither of them had crossed arms. He continued to watch them. Gates always looked serious no matter what she was talking about so he couldn't really read anything from her facial expressions. And all he could see was the back of Beckett, so he couldn't read her face at all.

Castle couldn't help but notice how great Beckett looked this morning. She had a nice fitted pair of jeans with a plain turtleneck deep blue top. He could see her black leather jacket hanging over the back of her chair. She dressed so simple, yet stylish. But he didn't understand those black heels, how could she run in those? He did love her in them though.

Just as he was about to take a sip of his coffee, he noticed a smile… not from Beckett, from Gates. What was that? Gates doesn't smile. He had to know what was going on! He did the only thing he could think of.

Beckett turned as she heard the door behind her open.

"Sorry to interrupt," Castle said. "Lanie called, we need to get to the morgue ASAP. She has some information on the body"

Gates didn't say a word, she just gave Castle a look which kind of scared him. So he closed the door again and walked back to his chair with his head down.

"It was worth a shot", he said to Ryan and Esposito as they laughed at him.

Castle took another sip of his coffee.

"C'mon then Castle, let's go," Kate had left Gates' office, walked over to her desk to pick up her jacket and coffee and was heading to the elevator.

Castles plan may not have worked how he expected, but it got Kate out of there so now he could question her.

He ran to catch up and they stepped into the elevator together.

* * *

On the way to the morgue Castle decided he should be honest with Beckett.

"Um, Beckett…"

"Yes Castle"

"Lanie didn't call, I made that up. I just wanted to get into the office to see what was going on. Why was Gates smiling?"

"What Castle? You better hope that Lanie has something for us. Gates wont be smiling if we go back and tell her that Lanie didn't find anything!" She tried to sound angry with him, but was not very convincing.

"Beckett… Lanie had already called you hadn't she?" Castle asked.

"Yes Castle, she called me a couple of minutes before you got there, I knew you wouldn't be far away so I thought I'd wait for…"

"See, it's like I said yesterday. You need me!" Castle interrupted.

"Castle!" she said hiding her smile. She continued, "I thought I'd wait for you and then Gates called me into her office. I couldn't go to Lanie right then, even if I wanted to. I went in and talked to Gates knowing that you would be there before I had to leave to see Lanie, so it worked out perfectly."

Perfectly? Beckett hopes she didn't just give too much away. It's not like she said having Castle was around was perfect, even though she knew it was. She was sure that he wouldn't have noticed what she said anyway, he was still thinking about how good he thought his own line was about her needing him.

"Besides that," she continued, "I knew your story wasn't true when you came in. Lanie wouldn't have called you after she had called me already, and if she called again on my work phone, well… you know better than to answer it!" she said in her stern, serious voice.

"Yes ma'am, I do," joked Castle.

Beckett could not believe this guy sometimes. The things that he says and does, they were just so… Castle! But she wouldn't have him any other way. She had gotten used to his Castleness, and she actually really enjoyed it. He always had a way of making her smile.

"Beckett… you still haven't told me why Gates was smiling," he said.

"Oh yeah, something about an award," she said trying to sound like she really wasn't that interested.

"What award? Who? What for? A bravery award?" Castle asked, getting quite excited in his chair.

Castle knew that he had been working really hard for the NYPD. He knew that one day Gates would see how hard he worked and would acknowledge and reward him. After all, this wasn't his job, and he was helping them solve murders.

"Settle down Castle," Beckett said. "It's not for you!"

Castle's face dropped and Beckett felt a little sorry for him. He really did work quite hard and deserved something. His work often went unnoticed because he was just the "writer". Beckett knew that he worked just as hard as she did a lot of the time. She would never admit that to him though.

"Don't worry Castle. _I'll_ give you your own reward some day," she smiled that cheeky smile again. She would one day reward him in a way that he would never forget.

Castle saw the smile. He knew that smile. She was flirting with him again. She had become quite the flirt over the past few months. She always had been a tease, but she was doing this more often now.

"So who is it for and what is it for?" he asked. Ignoring her previous comment was difficult for him, but he wanted to know more about the award.

"You know how the NYPD gives out awards for extraordinary bravery performed in the line of duty."

"Well… yes, I think I know"

"It seems they want to give me a Medal of Honor for that case we worked on a few months ago. That's why Gates was smiling. It's a great honour when someone on your team gets an award like that."

"That's great!" said Castle. He turned to her and smiled. "If anyone deserves an honor like that, it's you! You are amazing, and I get to see first hand all the hard work that you do."

"I couldn't do it without you, Castle"

"See… you just admitted it. You need me! I knew you would admit it eventually. I didn't think you'd give up that easily though"

Castle smiled. He was happy with himself, she walked right into that one.

Beckett turned to face Castle, as they pulled into the car park. "Yes Castle, whatever you say." She wasn't going to try and argue this one.

He threw his fist in the air in celebration with a little too much force. He had forgotten where he was for a second and punched the roof of the car, which made him immediately feel a little foolish as he got out of the car.

Beckett just laughed at the guy. "Oh Castle!" she thought to herself.

* * *

They walked into the lab where Lanie had their latest victim. The victim was no longer wrapped in bubble wrap, but had been covered with the usual blanket, showing only her face. The victim was a young, blonde woman. Next to her body were the personal items she had on her when she was unwrapped. Castle held back a laugh as he noticed the massive granny underwear on top of the pile of clothes. He had never seen anything like it. He looked over at Beckett who appeared to have a very serious expression on her face. Maybe she hadn't noticed the oversize underwear, or maybe she wore the same type of underwear.

Castle froze on the spot, while Lanie and Beckett walked over to the the notes Lanie had made.

"Oh my goodness," thought Castle. He could not believe he was just wondering what type of underwear Beckett was wearing. As much as he would love to know, now was really not the time or place to be thinking about it. "Castle," he thought to himself. "Behave yourself"

"Castle?" Beckett turned to see him standing there. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh, yeah," he walked over and joined the women.

"So, we unwrapped the body, no strange substances were found in the bubble wrap"

"Do you still have the bubble wrap?" Castle asked with excitement.

"Yes," Lanie said sounding a little unsure why he would ask.

"Can I have it? I love popping that stuff," he said with a cheesy grin.

"Castle, it has to go to the precinct as evidence, you know that," said Beckett.

"Oh" Castle pouted. And he pushed his bottom lip out as far as he could, just like he used to when he was a child and didn't get his way.

Beckett knew she shouldn't be laughing at him, but she couldn't help herself. Sometimes his childlike behaviour was just too cute to ignore.

"Maybe, we'll buy you some of your own if you behave yourself today," she joked and bumped him with her shoulder, which he immediately returned and added a smile.

Lanie saw the little exchange and also found herself smiling at the two of them. They really would make a cute couple, but they would never get there if someone doesn't make their move.

"You were saying, Lanie?" Beckett's focus was back on learning the information Lanie had.

"Unfortunately there were no prints on the bubble wrap or on the tape"

"There were none on the case either," Beckett responded. "Any idea who the victim is?"

"Well, we did the full body exam and searched every inch of her. We found this hidden in her bra," she pulled out a small piece of paper.

"Wow, you really do check every inch," Castle interrupted. "Beckett, promise me, if you ever find me murdered. Lanie is not the one that does my autopsy. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with her seeing ALL of me and then having to share that with you"

"Oh, why not Castle?" Lanie teased. "Don't want me spilling your _tiny_ secrets after you're gone"

"What..? No. I"

Beckett wanted to laugh, Castle deserved that one, but she knew they had a case to solve. "We have a case to work on", she said seriously. "And Castle, don't even joke about being murdered. I…" she paused, she needed to stop herself before she said to much.

Castle was slightly caught off guard at the concern in Beckett's voice. He knew she cared, but maybe he didn't realise how much. There was more there than she was letting on.

Beckett continued, "Just don't joke about it okay. Lanie, what does the note say?"

Lanie found the paper in her notes and read it, "My name is Montana Sparkles, Mark Holt is after me!"

"Montana Sparkles?" Castle laughed. "Sounds a little bit like a strippers name"

"Castle!" Beckett growled, then tried to hide back a small giggle. "I doubt a stripper would have those granny underpants."

She couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, and she let it out. Castle was relieved that he too could now let out the laughter that he'd been holding in since they first walked into the room. Beckett had buckled over, she really did find the granny pants hilarious. Castle had never seen her lose control before. She put her hand on his shoulder while she calmed herself down. They both calmed down and as they stood up they turned their heads to each other and caught each others eyes. They were both catching their breath, staring into each others eyes. Neither of them were moving, both waiting for the other to blink or turn away but not wanting to.

Lanie could see what was happening, but as much as she would have liked to see it happen, now was not the time or place for those two to have a staring competition and see who would make the first move. "Seriously," she said. "You, Kate, are as bad as he is" and she rolled her eyes at them, and snapped her fingers getting them out of their eye lock.

Kate apologized. "Sorry, yes, this is someone's daughter, someone's friend, we shouldn't be making jokes. We should be solving this murder. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me? Cause of death maybe?"

"Yes, it appears she was suffocated between 2pm and 4pm yesterday."

"Suffocated, and then folded up, wrapped, taped and stuffed into a suitcase. Ouch!" Castle responded.

"Yes, we are just trying to determine whether she was dead before they taped her or if she was simply unconscious and then died later after being placed in the suitcase"

"Ok, thanks Lanie. Let me know if you find anything."

"Of course. Have fun Kate!" she raised her eyebrows at Kate as some sort of encouragement to talk to Castle.

Not now thought Kate, it can wait until this case is over.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

When Castle and Beckett returned back to the precinct, Montana's parents were already there waiting. Beckett had advised Ryan and Esposito to look up Montana Sparkles and sent a picture so they got the right one. She asked them to get her family in as soon as possible, she just wasn't expecting them to be there so soon.

"Hi, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle", she looked at Castle who stood beside her. "Please follow me"

Beckett led them into a quiet room where she could talk about Montana, while Castle went and made some coffees.

"It's about Montana, isn't it," the woman said. "She didn't come home last night, and when your guys called, we knew something was wrong." She was close to tears.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Sparkles, but we found your daughter late last night. It appears she was suffocated. I'm so sorry for your loss"

Mrs Sparkles let out a cry, while her husband did his best to hold back the tears and console her.

"We just need to ask you a few questions, if you can answer them," she said. "We would like to find the person that did this to your daughter."

Castle watched through a window as Beckett had been speaking to the parents. He had finished making coffees and was waiting for the ok to come in. When telling a family about a loss, Beckett always seemed to find it easier to do on her own. Castle didn't know how she could do it. It took a woman of great strength to have these conversations, and never once did Beckett falter. She said what she knew needed to be said, she comforted without being too intrusive, and she gave the families the time they needed before questioning them.

Beckett saw Castle through the window and gave him the nod. It was ok for him to come in now. She had allowed the couple some time, and they were ready to answer her questions.

Castle came into the room and offered the couple a coffee, and then handed one to Beckett.

"Thanks Castle," she said softly as he took a seat next to her.

"Now I know this is hard," started Beckett. "But do you know anyone who would want to harm Montana. Was she in any kind of trouble?"

"No," said Mr Sparkles. "She never mentioned any trouble. She would go to work in the morning, and come home in the evening. Always smiling. It didn't seem like she had any troubles at all."

"Did she have a boyfriend at all? Or did she mention any one that may have been after her?"

"Montana was a very private person. She often didn't tell us about any boyfriends. She was coming home later some days, but she always just said she had been asked to stay back longer at the restaurant because they were busier than normal. She was a waitress at Carlos' Restaurant and Bar."

Castles eyes lit up like he knew something.

"That's just across the road from the alley," he said to Beckett.

Beckett took note in her head, and continued to ask questions of the parents. "Does the name Mark Holt ring any bells to you at all?"

"No," the couple said. "Do you think he's the one that killed her."

"We're not sure at the moment, we're just trying to find out who he is."

"Well, no, that name doesn't sound familiar at all," said Mrs Sparkles, struggling to hold back tears again.

After asking a few more questions, about what Montana would do during her day, the time she would leave, and the time she would usually get home. Beckett had all the information she needed.

"Well thank you for your time," Beckett said as she stood up. "We will let you know if we find anything."

"Thank you Detective." Mr Sparkles got up and shook her hand, and he wrapped his arm around his wife as Beckett walked them to the elevator.

When Beckett returned to her desk Ryan and Esposito were there waiting. They had looked up Mark Holt on their database. Unfortunately, they had found not just one Mark Holt's but three. They couldn't be sure which one had to do with the case they were working on. One had some major offenses and had already done some jail time because of an armed robbery, the other two had only minor offenses.

Now that Beckett knew a little bit more about the victim, she knew it was time to visit the victims workplace and back to the crime scene to see if she could find some more information. And hopefully, find out some more about this Mark Holt character.

Beckett informed the team of where they needed to look next. "Esposito, Ryan, you guys go to Carlos' Restaurant and Bar. That is where Montana worked. See if anyone remembers her acting strangely or if they know who this Mark Holt character is. If someone knows who he is, maybe we can get a sketch and match him with one of the guys on the database. Castle and I are going to find out which business uses the alley and try to find some witnesses. Maybe we'll find out where that suitcase came from. There are a number of hotels in the area, maybe it has come from one of them."

Esposito, Ryan, Beckett and Castle all gathered their things and waited for the elevator.

They entered silently and as the doors closed Esposito piped up, "So Montana Sparkles… do you think she's a stripper?"

"No!" Beckett said and looked as Castle as if she knew he would have encouraged Esposito to ask.

"Innocent here Beckett!" he said lifting his hands like he would if he was surrendering. He knew what her look meant.

"Sure Castle!" She turned to look to Ryan and Esposito, both of them holding in laughter. "Seriously, you two. You shouldn't encourage him."

The elevator chimed, they were at car park level.

"Saved by the bell," said Castle as they headed out of the elevator and towards their cars.

Beckett let Castle walk a few steps ahead of her. She did not want him to see her smiling because of his antics. Once she knew she could hold her seriousness again, she caught up with him and they both stepped into her car to head to the crime scene.


	5. Chapter 5

Because the previous chapter was a short one, I thought I'd post 2. **  
**

**Chapter 5**

Castle and Beckett reached the crime scene again, it was still all taped up. They knew that the guys would have swept the place for prints and things, but they were looking for more. They were trying to figure out who used the alley, and in particular, who used the bin where they found the suitcase. It wasn't long before they found what they needed.

The alley way was next to the Martiloni Hotel. Two staff members from the hotel came around but unfortunately due to police tape, could not enter the alley. When they saw the detective and her partner, they asked what was going on.

Beckett responded, "We are investigating a murder, do you know who uses this alley here?

"Yes, this may sound a little strange detective," one of the workers said. "But the alley is known to be the Martiloni Hotel workers hide out. We come out here when we need a break. You would think working in a 5 star hotel would be great, but it has its ups and downs like any other place."

"Ok, so do other businesses use these bins or just the hotel?" Beckett inquired.

"Well this particular bin," he pointed to the one where the body was found. "It is the hotel's bin, we usually have it padlocked so no one else can use it except the staff at the hotel."

"Was the bin locked yesterday Beckett?" asked Castle turning to his partner.

"No, I don't believe it was," she responded. "Who has the key to the padlock?"

The men responded, "Oh, it's just hanging in the hotel. All hotel staff have access to it."

"Ok, thank you guys, you have been very helpful. Unfortunately, for the time being, you are going to have to find another place for your hide out."

The two workmen turned around and went back to work.

"So," Beckett started thinking out loud. "The body was killed between 2pm and 4pm, placed in the suitcase and put out here before 6pm. It would have still been light, I wonder if anyone from the hotel was out here _hiding away_ and if they saw who dumped the case."

"What about the key? Will it have prints?" Castle asked.

"Yes Castle, it will have prints, probably hundreds of prints. The key is available for everyone. I think we need to speak to the manager of this hotel. Maybe he knows about this suitcase, and may be able to lead us to some staff members we can talk to."

Beckett spotted Esposito and Ryan coming out from the restaurant across the street. They must have finished talking to the people at Montana's workplace. She really hoped they got something solid to run. "Ryan, Espo!" she called.

They heard and crossed the road to her.

"Got anything?" she asked.

"Unfortunately not!" Ryan said. "Montana was at work from 6am and then finished her shift at 1:30pm. They don't know where she went from there. Nobody knows anything about a Mark Holt. They said she was a fairly private person, very good at her job, but she didn't talk much about her personal life. She came in, worked, and then went home. They mentioned that she never stayed there for lunch, but they figured it was just because she liked to keep to herself, she didn't want to share lunch with them."

"Right," responded Beckett. "Well we're going to go into the hotel and see if they know anything. Apparently, the staff at the hotel are the only ones who use the bin where the body was found. Someone must know something. Castle and I could do with your help if you've got nothing to follow up on."

"Sure," both Ryan and Esposito responded, and the four of them went into the hotel building.

* * *

"NYPD, we'd like to speak to the manager please," Kate said to the receptionist on the front counter.

"Sure," the young women said nervously. "He's just in his office." She made a quick phone call and within a minute a well dressed, tall, slim man appeared from the back rooms.

"Hi," he said. "Peter Martiloni, I'm the owner and manager of the hotel, can I help you?"

"We hope so, Mr Martiloni. We would just like to ask you a few questions about a Miss Montana Sparkles."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know that name. Is she a guest here?" He led Castle and Beckett to seats in the corner and they sat down.

"Do you know this woman?" Beckett asked as she pulled out a photo of Montana. "No, I don't believe I've seen her. Why?"

"It seems that she has been murdered and her body was found in the bin that your staff use in the alley around the corner."

"Oh my," replied Peter.

"We were wondering if you knew if there were any staff members acting suspiciously yesterday?"

"No, I don't believe so, but I was in my office most of the afternoon yesterday, so I can't be sure. I would be happy to let you speak to the staff members if you need to."

"Thank you," said the detective. "We've got a couple of detectives already questioning some staff members now." She pointed towards Ryan and Esposito who were sitting talking to one of the bellboys.

"We would also like to know if you know of a Mark Holt?" she continued questioning.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Ok, just a couple more questions. The body was dumped with a suitcase. Is there any chance that anyone has reported a missing case, or did you see anyone come in with an expensive looking Gucci case and leave without one in the past day or two."

"Again, no I'm afraid I haven't noticed." He paused. "Actually, yes, there was a couple yesterday, who mentioned something about their case going missing last night. When I looked at the staff that had been rostered to clean their room during the day, I noticed it was one of the men who has had warnings before. He's previously been caught taking the hotel soaps and hair conditioners. When I saw that he was the one cleaning that room, I guessed that he had moved on from the small things and decided to take the case. I fired him yesterday and sent him home at about 7pm."

"Do you have his details? We are going to need to contact him and ask him some questions. And also we will need to talk to the couple that reported the stolen case."

"Yes not a problem, I'll go get their details for you now" he said. And Mr Martiloni stood up and walked back towards his office.

"You've been awfully quiet Castle," Beckett said as she watched Mr Martiloni walk away.

Castle had been watching the receptionist the whole time, there was something about her. She seemed extremely nervous. He whispered in Beckett's ear, "I think we need to talk to the receptionist. She seems…. nervous"

When Beckett felt his breath on the back of her neck it made her shiver. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. She couldn't let her thoughts invade her mind while she was investigating a case. And with him so close, she was sure she could not stop them.

"Beckett?" Castle said. He was now standing directly in front of her. He thought that she would have gotten up straight away when he mentioned the nervous receptionist. But instead she remained seated, taking a deep breath. This was strange behaviour coming from Beckett. "Beckett? Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, sorry Castle. Lets go talk to her."

Castle reached out his hand to help her up off the seat. She hesitated at first.  
"Goodness me Kate," she thought. "He's just offering his hand to help you up!"

She took his hand, stood up and found herself staring deeply into his eyes again. "Thank you," she said, not letting go of their clasped hands.

"Always" said Castle.

It was such an odd partnership between these two. They often had these moments, but for some reason, they were occurring more frequently and at the most unusual times now. A minute ago, she was questioning someone, getting information on a case, and now she was staring into Castle's eyes, wanting so much more than she knew she could have at that moment.

Beckett snapped herself out of the stare. She noticed Esposito and Ryan watching them again. They had finished questioning the bellboy and were waiting for another worker.

"C'mon Castle," she said and started her way back to the receptionist.

They approached the desk and asked the young woman her name.

"Hayley," she responded. "Hayley Clarke. I don't know why you're here, but I guess it has something to do with the police tape on the alley outside."

"Yes it does," replied Beckett.

"I only started here this morning, this is my first job. I can't believe my first day on my first job and I'm being questioned by police," tears started to form in her eyes.

"It's ok Hayley," said Beckett, grabbing a tissue from the desk and handing it over. "Were you here yesterday at all?"

"No," Hayley responded wiping her eyes.

"Ok then, have you heard anyone say anything or acting suspiciously today"

"No," Hayley responded again.

"Well thank you Hayley, that's all we need right now"

Beckett saw that Peter had come back with a couple of files, and started walking back towards him.

"That's it, you're not going to ask her any more questions?" Castle asked confused.

"C'mon Castle. You saw the look on her face, she's terrified. I don't think she's knows anything that can help us"

Castle knew she was right. She always was. Beckett was good at reading faces, she always knew when there were more questions to ask. He trusted her.

Beckett took the files from Mr Martiloni, thanked him for her time and walked to Esposito and Ryan.

"We're going to call a suspect into the precinct. Do you guys mind staying here, I think there's probably a number of staff members still to question." He handed Ryan a file, "also, could you talk to this couple. They may be the owners of the suitcase"

"Sure, we'll see you back at the precinct with any information." said Esposito.

Castle and Beckett made their way out of the building.

Ryan turned to Esposito. "Did you see the stare between the two of them earlier?" he asked.

Esposito responded. "Yes, I almost felt like we should have booked them a room and shut them in there. I'll bet that one of them is going to crack during this case."

"I dunno," replied Ryan unsure. "I'd give it another couple of months. These guys are slow movers."

"$20?" Esposito held his hand out and waited.

"Deal!" Ryan shook his hand. Now they just had to wait it out and see what would happen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's another chapter  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters etc**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Jeremy Tigers paced up and down the interrogation room. He thought Mr Martiloni had gone overboard, it was just a few soaps he had stolen after all. What was wrong with that?

Beckett and Castle walked into the room.

"Sit down," said Beckett as she and Castle took their seats.

"Would you like to tell us what you were doing, stealing from the hotel?"

Jeremy was starting to feel nervous now, the detective did not look happy.

"It was just a few soaps. I didn't think anyone would notice. I'll pay the hotel back. What is soap worth, 50c? I have $20 in my pocket, I'm sure that will cover the few I took."

"We don't want to know about the soap, Jeremy. Quite honestly, we don't care about the soap right now. We are more interested in the suitcase you stole!"

"What suitcase, I didn't take any suitcase."

"Then why do you think you were fired yesterday?" Beckett inquired.

"Well, I thought it was because of the soap. I thought it was a little bit harsh, but I wasn't going to argue."

Castle watched Jeremy fiddling with his hands. Wow, this guy was nervous. He didn't know how he could have stolen anything without someone noticing.

"Harsh! You know what's harsh! Suffocating a woman, wrapping her up in bubble wrap and then dumping her body in a suitcase" Beckett said standing now, looking down at her suspect.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about?"

Beckett placed the picture of Montana on the table in front of Jeremy. "So you don't know who this girl is?"

"No," he said, starting to sweat. "I mean, I've seen her around a couple of times, but I don't know who she is. I thought she was just a guest or something."

"And what were you doing yesterday between 2pm and 4pm," Beckett asked.

"I was working."

"And how do I know you didn't take a break? You just admitted that you've seen this girl. She caught you trying to steal more than soap didn't she? So you thought you would make sure she never told anyone and you suffocated her, then dumped her before getting back to work."

"No, ever since I was first caught taking soaps, Mr Martiloni paired me with another worker. Yesterday, I was paired with Tom Waters. He will tell you that I was with him the entire day yesterday, until I was told to go home at 7pm"

"Right! Well we'll have that verified." She pointed at the picture of Montana and continued, "so this girl here, did you ever see her with anyone?"

"No, she was always alone," replied Jeremy. "But right about the time I started seeing her, I did start seeing this other guy that used to hang around the hotel. He was a little bit creepy, almost stalkerish."

"Do you know who the guy was?" asked Castle, happy to get a word in.

"No," Jeremy said. "I have no idea, he did ask me a couple of times about a girl, but I didn't know who he was talking about."

"Did you get a good look of the guy?" asked Beckett.

"Yeah, I got a pretty good look."

"We'll send in the sketch artist, if you could describe him to us, and we'll be back to talk if your alibi doesn't check out."

Beckett headed towards the door and Castle followed. She saw one of the other cops and asked them to send in the sketch artist. She wanted to know who this mystery guy was.

When Ryan and Esposito arrived back from the hotel, they updated her on what they had found. Unfortunately, no new leads were found. None of the staff members knew anything. The spoke to the couple with the missing case and they swept the room for prints, but being a hotel there could be hundreds in that room. Beckett asked them to check into Jeremy's alibi. She had to be certain he was not the killer before letting him go.

* * *

An hour or so later, Ryan and Esposito had confirmed with Tom at the hotel that Jeremy was with him the entire afternoon. The sketch artist came out of the interrogation room and handed Beckett a piece of paper.

Check this sketch, see if it matches any of the Mark Holt's we pulled from the database.

Ryan took a quick look at the sketch. "Yep, I know it does. I recognise the face."

They went to the files where they had kept their information. Jeremy had described a guy with very few convictions. He had some minor thefts reported and one assault charge that was later dismissed. Could he be the killer?

Beckett took the image and placed it on the murder board. So far they knew…nothing. They had been working on this case all day, and had gotten almost nowhere. They still didn't know why Montana would hang around the hotel, they had no idea who stole the case, and they had no idea why Mark was after their victim. They didn't even know exactly where she was murdered. They needed to find Mark and question him.

Ryan was already on it. He had made his way to his computer and looked up Mark's details. He had an address! Time for them to go for a visit.

* * *

They all arrived at Mark's house, put on their vests and were ready to go in. Whenever they were going into a situation like this they liked to be safe. Castle felt that he would have been safer with a gun, but he knew he wasn't a cop and he knew not to whinge.

"NYPD, open up" Beckett yelled at the closed door.

There was no answer.

"Mark Holt, NYPD, open up!" She yelled again.

Still no answer.

She gave Esposito the nod and he kicked in the door.

They walked through the apartment, looking for Mark. When they realised the place was empty, they put their guns away and started to look around to see what they could find.

Castle had already found something.

"Beckett," he called over.

Beckett hurried quickly to Castle wondering what he had found.

He pointed to a photo on the wall. It was a collection of photos of Mark with their victim. It seems they not only knew each other, but they were close. Very close!

"It seems like Montana had a boyfriend after all," said Castle and Beckett in unison looking at each other. Beckett looked away, she'd already been caught in Castle's eyes once today, and she would not let that happen again.

Looking for a link to the hotel, Beckett decided to put all the photos in evidence bags. They could go through them back at the precinct and see if any were taken at the hotel. They still weren't even 100% sure where Montana had been killed, but Beckett was feeling quite confident that it was probably at the hotel.

"Beckett!" Esposito called. He had found some keys and a wallet. "I don't think this guy has gone anywhere, he's left everything behind. He'll be back"

They continued to search the house looking for anything that would give them a clue as to what happened to Montana. When they found nothing further, they left the house.

"Hey Castle, what are your plans for the night?" Beckett asked, as they stood on the front steps.

"Plans? I don't make plans Beckett. I go wherever the wind blows me," he said with wide eyes.

"Right, well I'm thinking we should stay here. Wait for Mark to come back. It could be a long night Castle… are you up for it?"

"A stakeout? Really! Awesome!" he said a little too excitedly.

"It's work Castle! You'll have to stay focused on the job!"

Beckett thought about what she had just said to Castle. She was beginning to have second thoughts. Maybe she should have asked Esposito and Ryan to stay. Being alone in the car with Castle may not have been the best thing for her at the moment. She looked at Castles face. He was grinning from ear to ear. How could she change her mind now? He looked so excited. He was cute when he got excited, "like a little puppy dog," she thought smiling.

"Esposito, you and Ryan take the pictures back and see if there's anything on them we can use. Castle and I are going to stay here and wait for Mark to come back."

Esposito turned to his partner as they walked back to the car. "I think I'm going to be winning this bet earlier than I thought" he said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Time for some fun and a stakeout  
**

**Disclaimer - Still not my characters etc.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

They had been there for a few hours and Mark still had not come home. Beckett had barely said a word to Castle over the past few hours. She told him the rules of a stake out and what she expected him to do when Mark came home, but other than that, she barely said a word. She knew this time alone with him could have given her the perfect opportunity to talk to him about their partnership. But she didn't want to get distracted from the task at hand, which was to watch out for Mark. She didn't even want to look at Castle because she knew his eyes and his lips would become too much for her to handle, and she would no longer be able to say no to the desire she had for him.

Castle was getting bored and hungry. This stake out was nothing like he expected. He thought that he would at least get some interesting conversion from Beckett. But she had hardly spoken to him, and he had no idea why.

"Beckett?" Castle had to break the silence, he couldn't deal with it anymore. "Where are the donuts? I'm hungry"

"Really Castle… donuts," she gave him an 'I can't believe you just said that' look.

"Well, I hear cops like donuts, and that's what they eat on stake outs." Castle said grinning.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any donuts."

"Oh, but Beckett… I'm hungry," he spoke as if he was a toddler talking to his mum.

Beckett felt bad, she didn't expect them to be there for so long. "C'mon, you're a grown man, I'm sure you can go without eating for a little while longer."

"I have an idea," Castle said almost jumping out of his seat, and opening his eyes wide.

"What now?" Beckett replied.

"Lets order take out and have it delivered."

"To a car? I'm not sure that's possible"

"Why not? We have an address. This way we will get food, I'll even let you choose what to order, we don't have to leave our place, and the best part…"

Beckett was interested to see what Castle thought the best thing about this idea was.

"… you wont have to listen to my stomach grumble or me whinge!"

He was right, no whinging from Castle really did sound great.

"Ok then Castle, but you can make the call. I've got to keep an eye out for Mark"

"Yes sir," he said saluting as he grabbed his phone and went to dial. "Oh, what would you like? I said you could choose."

"I don't mind, surprise me!"

Castle made the call and food was delivered in 20 minutes. Kate overheard the delivery guy as Castle paid him, "I've never delivered to a car parked on the side of the road before."

Castle simply laughed and sent him on his way.

Beckett was actually quite impressed that Castle didn't say why they were there. When he first started following her, he loved to share everything with everyone. Giving away what they were doing to people who did not need to know. He had grown a lot in the past few years. She was quite proud of him actually.

They ate their food and it was back to the silence again, waiting for Mark to return home. It didn't take long before Castle was getting bored again. He reached out and opened the glove Box in Beckett's car.

"Castle!" Beckett turned towards him, looking to see what he was doing. "What are you doing?"

Castle looked at her with a guilty expression. "Opening your glove box to see what was in there."

At least he was being honest. "Snooping around my car now are you? Trying to find some hidden secrets you can add to your next Nikki Heat book?"

"Uh, no, but what a good idea." He lent over to see what was in the glove box.

"Gosh Castle, now you're just being nosey. You don't need to search my car, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have."

"Oh, looky here Beckett, what's this?" he started pulling a book that was hidden in there. "A Nikki Heat novel. Now why is that hidden away in there? That should be on your book case, not hidden away so nobody can see it."

Kate looked slightly embarrassed. "Honestly, I do have a copy on my bookshelf at home." She bit her bottom lip, not sure what he would say in response to her admission.

"Well what's this one… wait… you have 2 copies? Detective Beckett, you surprise me sometimes," he smiled at her.

Her eyes were drawn to that smile, those lips. They looked so inviting. But no! She had to keep her mind focused on the case, not on Castle.

"Wait… I see a book mark, you've marked a page"

"No, Castle! Don't" she tried to snatch the book away from him.

Castle sat mouth wide open. He was surprised. "So Beckett, you like these scenes best do you."

"No! What are you talking about?" she tried to sound like she didn't know what he was talking about, but she knew very well what page she had bookmarked.

"So tell me, why is it that you have this page marked anyway?"

"I don't know what page you're talking about. I have the book in my car for times like this, when I've got nothing to do and nobody to keep me company. I must have marked the page that I was last reading. It's nice to have something to read sometimes."

Castle took the opportunity to turn on his charm. "And tell me Beckett," he said as he climbed into the back seat and sat behind Beckett's chair. "Would you rather have your book right now, or the real thing?" He wasn't sure how much she would let him get away with right now, but he thought it was totally worth it. The stake out was finally getting interesting for him. He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging them.

"Castle!" She had no idea how to respond. It wasn't often he caught her off guard like that. She could feel the butterflies starting to bounce around her stomach, the heat rising to her cheeks. She was enjoying the massage though. He had good strong hands. It was a shame that the chair was in the way.

"Beckett… Relax!" he said, leaning forward and whispering in her ear.

Beckett couldn't take this much longer. She knew exactly what he was up to. "Two can play at this game," she thought.

She climbed over the seat herself and joined Castle in the back.

Castle was speechless. He did not expect her to join him. Where was this behaviour coming from? This was not the Beckett he was used to. She would normally have stopped him, not joined him!

Beckett got as close to Castle as possible on the back seat, and then crossed one leg over the other so it was crossing over his leg as well. She began stroking his calf with her foot, and put a hand on his knee creeping her way up his thigh.

"Oh my," Castle thought.

"What's wrong Ricky?" Beckett whispered in his ear.

Castle swallowed.

She continued in his ear, "Can't take the heat!" She took one finger and slowly slid it down his chest.

"I… uh…" Castle could not get a word out.

Beckett stopped teasing and sat back again away from Castle's face. "Gotcha Castle!"

Castle swallowed. How did he let that happen? "Beckett… how could you do that to me?"

Beckett was just about to answer when her phone chimed. Saved by the bell again. She had received a message. "I gotta see who that is, it could be important".

Castle knew that if it were something important that would have called her, not send a message, but he let Beckett get away with it anyway.

Beckett picked up her phone. The message was from Lanie.

_So, you and writer boy alone in the car all night? What are you doing?_

Beckett laughed out loud.

"Who is it?" Castle questioned.

"It's just Lanie," Beckett said typing her response.

_We are focusing on the case Lanie. We don't need any distractions. _

"Did she have anything important to say?" Castle asked.

"No, she was just seeing how things were going. She knows how boring these stakeouts can be. We often send a lot of texts back and forth on nights like these."

"Oh" Castle nodded.

Beckett's phone chimed again.

_Oh ok, I get it. Have fun Kate!_

Beckett knew that Lanie had her own ideas about how the night would have been going for the two of them, but Beckett was determined now to continue just watching out for Mark as she had always intended.

The next thing Beckett remembered was being tapped on the shoulder, and being woken by Castle.

Castle? Why is Castle in her room?

"Castle? What are you doing here?" she said sleepily. Blinking a few times, she took in her surroundings and remembered they were waiting for a suspect to come home.

"You fell asleep on my shoulder," Castle said. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. Mark just arrived home."

"Oh… um… thank you Castle. Did you stay awake all night?"

"Yes… I knew one of us had to. And once again… I just proved that you do indeed _need _me." He smiled at her.

Beckett wiped the sleep from her eyes, and was getting out of the car. She would have liked some more time to wake up but, there was a killer to find.

"C'mon Castle! Let's get this guy," Beckett said jumping out of the car, ready for action.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the characters etc. **

**Chapter 8**

Castle and Beckett returned to the precinct with Mark. It was still quite early so Ryan and Esposito were not in yet. Beckett was a little relieved when she realised the guys weren't there. She could only imagine what they would have to say about her and Castle spending the night together alone in a car and the jokes that they would have come up with.

She took Mark into the interrogation room and told him to sit and wait. Castle was still following her. She felt bad that he had not gotten any sleep over night and she knew she must have had at least 5 hours.

"Castle," she turned to look at him. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I mean, if you want to go home and get some rest, I can manage this without you for the day."

"I don't think so Beckett!" Castle responded. "The day after is almost as exciting as the stake out. I'll just let mother and Alexis know that I'm ok."

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. He would have called but didn't want to miss the interrogation and he knew if he called his mother would have just asked a million and one questions.

Beckett waited for Castle. When he put the phone back in his pocket she entered the room where Mark was waiting sitting at the table, Castle wasn't far behind her. He closed the door and took his seat.

Castle loved the interrogation room, he got to see a completely different Beckett. There was something amazing about the way she always got what she needed from the suspect. And she had to deal with so much in there, some suspects were extremely rude, but she just got on with her job. It was one of the things he admired about her really, her ability to not give up, no matter how hard it was.

"Mark," Beckett started. "I'm just going to get straight into this. Why were you following Montana Sparkles."

"Because she had something of mine, and I wanted it back."

"So you're not going to deny that you had been following her, and that you knew her."

"No, why would I do that? She was my girl for 3 years, and then a few months ago, she just left, never wanted to see me again. "

"So, can you tell me what you were doing on Monday between 2pm and 4pm?" Beckett asked, this was actually a lot easier than she thought. This guy would be easy to crack.

"Yep, I was with my mate working on his car. He was having some troubles, and I used to be a mechanic so I thought I'd give him a hand. Why? What happened to Montana?"

Beckett could hear the concern in his voice. This guy still cared for his ex-girlfriend, but obviously he was not going to admit it.

"Montana has been murdered. We're going to need the name of your friend so we can verify you were with him during that time."

"Sure," he said.

Beckett pushed a pen and paper to him, and he wrote the details of his friend.

"So, just a few more questions for you Mr Holt. What did Montana have that you were trying to get back?"

"It was my grandmothers necklace," he said. "I gave it to her a month or so before we broke up. It's been in the family for years, I just wanted to get it back, but she didn't want to see me."

"So you were following her?" Beckett asked, raising her eyebrows. He may have had an alibi, but that had not yet been verified. She had decided she did not need to play bad cop this time, Mark had not yet been any trouble and was answering all her questions.

"Well, I wasn't following her," he said. "A friend told me that he'd seen her a number of times at the hotel, so I thought maybe I'd just bump into her one day. So every couple of days I'd be there and I'd wait in reception to see if I could see her. I never saw her coming in or leaving, so if she was there while I was in the reception area she must have had another way in and out of the building. I thought she might have been using a staff entrance somewhere."

"Why didn't you go into her workplace? It was just across the road," Castle asked.

"I know I may not be the brightest guy around but I didn't want to cause a scene while she was at work and I didn't know how she would take seeing me after she told me she never wanted to see me again. I know I have a record and the last thing I wanted was to add to that. I thought it would be easier this way."

It kind of made sense to Castle, but it was a boring story.

"So your friend saw her there," asked Beckett, trying to find any information she could.

"Yes, my friend, Jen, said they had seen her a number of times. They saw her at the pool once, but she left on the arm of another guy before Jen got to talk to her."

"Another guy? Did you get jealous Mark?" Castle asked, thinking he was onto something. Maybe this guy wasn't so innocent after all.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I didn't get jealous. Of course, I was. Montana never told me why she broke it off with me, I started to think maybe it was because she met another guy. They guy she met at the pool."

Beckett asked a few more questions and left Mark in the room while she went to check his alibi.

She came back moments later. "You're free to go for now Mark, but don't leave town. We may have some more questions for you later."

"No problem detective. I'll help however I can."

Beckett and Castle escorted Mark out of the precinct and went back to her desk and looked at the murder board across from them.

So now they knew that in the months before she was murdered she had broken up with Mark, and had been spending some time at the hotel. She was surprised that no one at the hotel knew more. There was something someone wasn't telling them. Mark said something about his grandmothers' necklace. Beckett wondered whether the necklace had something to do with the murder.

"The necklace?" she said out loud turning to Castle. "There was no necklace on the body. Maybe it has something to do with the reason she was murdered."

"Yes," Castle said, feeling like the detective was onto something. "Maybe, someone had seen her with this necklace that she thought was just a family heirloom, but was actually worth a lot more. When she wouldn't hand it over, someone suffocated her, and stuffed her body in a suitcase."

"That's all you've got Castle?" Beckett said raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm tired. That's all I've got for now."

Beckett checked the details Mark had given her about his friend Jen. It appeared she owned and lived in an apartment in the hotel. They were going back to the hotel.

"Well we need to find Mark's friend Jen and talk to her. I wonder if she had any more information on this mystery guy Montana was seeing. Let's go!"

* * *

Before going to the hotel Castle had convinced Beckett to let him go home to change since he had spent the night in the clothes he had been wearing. He would have liked a shower but he didn't want to waste too much time, he and his partner still had a case to work on.

He was a glad that Beckett hadn't driven away while he was in his apartment. Freshly dressed, he got back into Beckett's car and sat in the passenger seat.

"Woah, what are you wearing?" said Beckett, as the door was closed.

"Clothes, would you rather I was not wearing any?" he raised his eyebrows. "And Beckett, I hope that's not your bedroom voice, because that was terrible."

"I was talking about your cologne. It's extremely strong"

"Oh yeah, sorry, I thought I should put on extra since there was no time to shower."

Castle had to admit, he did put a lot of cologne on, but he was hoping Beckett would like it.

"Yes, well I'm thinking I should have let you take that shower now! Wind down your window, I need some fresh air"

"I'd be happy to go back and have one now. I can share my shower with you if you'd like." He winked at her then turned and started winding down his window. He knew that he may have taken it a little too far and was afraid of the look Beckett was most likely giving him.

Beckett was a little shocked at his shower comment, but since he started it, she thought she could get him just like she did the night before.

Castle was still watching out his window when Beckett leaned over to his side, ran her hand up his arm and around the back of his neck, pulling him closer to her she whispered in his ear. "Sounds like a good idea, Ricky…"

Castle turned his head suddenly, his lips almost touching hers, their faces only millimetres apart from each other.

"… but we have a case to work on," she finished in a serious tone, giving him a gentle push away.

"I win again," thought Beckett. This is just too easy.

Castle sat there speechless.

"Buckle up Castle!" she said as she drove out of the parking block.

* * *

Castle and Beckett arrived at the hotel to speak to Jen. Much to Castle's surprise Hayley, the receptionist, had come back to work the next day. He was almost expecting that she would have quit after the day she had yesterday. Hayley called up to Jen and confirmed she was in her apartment and was now expecting the detective.

When they arrived at the apartment Jen was waiting at the door to show them in. She offered them both a glass of water then showed them to the dining room where they could sit at the table and talk.

When they were all settled, Beckett started to ask Jen questions about what she had seen and what she knew about Montana.

Jen had seen Montana a number of times at the hotel in and out of a number of different rooms. She had thought that Montana had started working at the hotel casually but she could never be sure. She said Montana had always seemed to be rushing around like she didn't want to be seen. It did sound like she had been acting strangely suspicious.

Beckett wanted to know more about the mystery guy.

"So we have been advised that you spotted Montana with a gentleman. Can you tell us what you saw that day? We may need to talk to the gentleman."

"I didn't see that much at all," replied Jen. "I saw Montana standing at the pool, she was looking around, it looked like she had been waiting for someone. I was hoping to go talk to her but it seemed I was too slow. She spotted the man she must have been waiting for and left"

"Did you get to look at the man at all?" asked Castle.

"No, he didn't really even come into the room. The door had been opened half way, I saw an arm reach out, and then they linked elbows and the door closed as they left."

"So it could have been anyone?" asked Beckett.

"Well, yes, I guess it could have been."

"And what made you think it was a man?"

"I don't know."

"Well, we do know that Montana had not been working here. If she had, the staff would have told us. So maybe she was visiting another resident here, or a hotel guest. Thank you for your time. Please let us know if you remember anything else that you may have seen."

"Yes of course detective," Jen responded and showed them to the door.

As the door closed behind them and Castle and Beckett made their way down the hall to the elevator Castle turned to Beckett. "Well she wasn't much help at all really"

"Oh I wouldn't say that Castle," she responded, stepping into the elevator. "We know now that there is definitely another somebody somewhere who knows something. We might not know anything about this person, but we know they're out there. We also need to keep looking about this hotel! There is something about this place, I just have to figure it out. How could Montana be in and out of this place without anyone noticing? We should get a list of the residents and guests that have been here over the past two weeks. We'll run their names and we'll see if anybody has a criminal history."

The elevator had made it back down to reception. "Oh you're so smart Beckett," Castle said as he poked her in the arm and they stopped out of the elevator.

"Yes Castle, I'm the brains and you're the…," she paused. "…I would say muscle but we both know that would be a lie," she teased.

"So what am I then?" Castle asked. "Not the brains, not the muscle?"

"You're the…" a part of her wanted to say looks, but there is no way Beckett would admit that to Castle. She would never hear the end of it.

"Beckett…? You've gone silent. You can't decide can you? I am just too much for you aren't I?"

Beckett didn't respond, she just turned away from Castle and walked towards the front desk. They saw Hayley and got a list of guests from the previous weeks, and they would take them back to the precinct.


	9. Chapter 9

**If I owned Castle, I wouldn't be writing this.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

On the way back to the precinct Beckett was fairly quiet. She was a little disappointed in the progress of the case, though she would never admit it. They had questioned a large number of people and felt like they were getting nowhere. It was almost like Montana was invisible. How could someone live such an invisible life? How many other people out there, live their day-to-day lives without people seeing them come and go? She wondered if her life was the same.

"Castle?"

"Yes Beckett"

"I was just thinking about the case," she started. "And I was wondering, why was Montana so invisible."

"What do you mean?" asked Castle, somewhat confused.

"Well," Beckett rested one arm on the middle compartment of her car while holding onto the steering wheel with the other, "she went about her life and people knew her, but they didn't know anything _about _her. Do you think there are a lot of people like that?"

Castle was starting to worry for Beckett. This was a very strange and serious conversion they were having. She often surprised him, but this was different, he felt like she was trying to relate it to her own life. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that she was, but he thought he would take a chance.

"You are not invisible! I know all about you," he said. "And there is no way you could enter a room without people noticing you. You are not invisible," he repeated and he reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Beckett smiled. She loved how he could just read her thoughts. He always had the right thing to say. He was a writer, he wrote words for a living, she knew that, but there was always something special, something extremely personal in his words for her.

"Thanks, but you know I wasn't talking about me," she hadn't moved her arm, and hadn't shaken his hand off either. She liked the feel of his hand on hers. It made her feel safe and warm and wanted.

He stared down at his hand, now resting in hers. They had been sitting silently like this for a few minutes. He couldn't believe it. Why had she not moved away from him? Castle moved his gaze from their hands to her face. She looked beautiful. For someone who had spent a night in the car, and had barely had any time all day to clean up, she still looked great. Castle thought she could probably go days like that and still look just as beautiful. He didn't think there was anything that could take away her beauty.

"Castle," Beckett smiled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Castle had gotten lost so lost in his thoughts, her voice gave him a fright and made him jump in his seat, immediately removing his hand and looking back out the front window. "What, like what Beckett?"

Beckett missed the warmth of his hand on hers straight away, and wished she had just sat quietly, but it was too late to go back now.

"You were just staring at me, with this… Castle like expression," she said.

"Oh," he said. He had no idea what the expression was. "Sorry"

They continued their journey in silence for another few minutes. Beckett didn't mind the silence but knew it was probably killing Castle and she knew just the thing to break it.

"Hey, if we have to go back to that hotel one more time, I think we should just get a room and stay there," she knew he would have something to say about that.

"Detective Beckett! One step at a time," he joked. "But you know my shower offer is always open to you," he said.

"Don't you think that's jumping ahead a few steps too?"

Beckett would never have even considered flirting like this with Castle when he first started shadowing her. Gosh, he was annoying back then. But now, it wasn't even disguised flirting. She was doing it on purpose.

"A few minor steps maybe, if it makes you more comfortable, we can shower in our underwear," he said.

"But then I'd have to put my clothes on over the top of wet underwear Castle. It's clear you haven't put much thought into this at all!" she teased.

"And you clearly have!" Castle looked at her and winked.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed they had a tail-gater.

"Beckett, I hate to interrupt our very intriguing conversion but, I think this guy behind us is maybe a little too close."

Beckett had been so focused on Castle that she hadn't even noticed. A few seconds later, he pulled out from behind the car and was driving side by side with them. The car was black and had extremely dark, tinted windows. It was swerving towards Becketts' car.

The car stayed right next to Beckett, if she slowed, they would slow, if she sped up, they would too. With her police training, she knew there was no easy way to get out of the situation that ended without them or the other vehicle to collide with the other people on the road.

"Castle, hold on!" Beckett said.

She did the only thing she could think of. She hit the brakes and turned the wheel quickly and went off the road. The car spun around a couple of times before the front end fell into a ditch.

* * *

The next thing Beckett remembered was waking up in a hospital bed. She remembered the car drive, the strange black car that ran her off the road, the spinning off the road, and then it all went dark.

She saw an empty bed next to her in the room.

"Castle? Where's Castle!"

Lanie was sitting by her side. "It's ok Kate, he's in the next room," she said softly.

Becketts' head was throbbing, but she had to make sure he was all right.

"Lanie, I need to see him."

"The doctor said you both had to rest," she said refusing to help her up. "He'll be back in a minute. You're fine, a few bruises and stitches to the cut on your head, but they'd like to keep you here overnight just to be sure."

Lanie had actually spoken to the doctors and had asked them to keep the two overnight. They needed to rest, and she knew they wouldn't rest if they were sent home, they'd be back on the case straight away.

"Lanie, no!" Beckett almost shouted fighting to sit up in the bed. "This is my fault, I need to make sure he's ok."

"He's fine Kate, I saw him about 10 minutes ago, and he was sleeping peacefully."

"I don't care, Lanie." Beckett couldn't believe the tone her voice had taken, she was actually getting quite angry. "He's my partner, I'm going to see him, and I'm going to see him NOW!" she ripped out the IV that was in her arm, pushed her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

As she did so, she felt dizzy and fell backwards back onto the bed. It looked like she was not going to do this on her own.

"Lanie," she had tears forming in her eyes. "Please," she begged.

It wasn't often that Lanie saw her friend cry. She couldn't watch it, she knew Kate was strong and she knew she would not give up until she had seen Castle.

"Ok Kate, I'll get the doctor, and we'll get you a chair to wheel you to him"

"Thank you"

Lanie left the room and was back within minutes with the doctor and a wheelchair.

The doctor asked Kate how she was feeling.

"I'll be better once I've seen my partner," she said.

The doctor smiled. "Ok then," he said. He placed her IV back in the arm and helped her into the chair.

Lanie pushed Kate and her mobile IV drip into the room next door. Castle was in a single room, sleeping peacefully.

"Castle!" Kate said softly and covered her face as they entered the room. He too was badly bruised and had stitches in his cheek. Somehow in the accident he had also broken his arm, and it was now in a cast. Kate felt responsible for him looking like this.

"Do Alexis and his mother know he's here?" Beckett asked Lanie.

"Yes, they were here not long ago. It was getting late, so they went home. They knew that there was little they could do to help him, and decided it was best if they stayed out of the doctors way."

"Has he woken since the accident?" Beckett asked, tears forming in her eyes again.

"Yes Beckett, he regained consciousness fairly quickly. And he was making jokes, I think he'll be fine. He wanted to come see you, but because of his arm, the doctors had to get him in a cast as soon as possible. Then the pain killers knocked him out pretty soon after."

Beckett signaled to Lanie to push her closer to his bed. Lanie did so and then stepped out of the room. She knew that Kate would have wanted some time alone.

Beckett reached out with both her hands and held onto Castles hand that was not in a cast.

"I'm sorry Castle," she whispered, as she lifted his hand and kissed it gently. "I never wanted you to get hurt."

She placed his hand back down and rested her head next to his on the pillow and closed her eyes. She just wanted to be near him, to feel his breath, to make sure he was ok.

She must have dozed off for a few minutes and was woken by his voice.

"Beckett," Castle whispered. "Kate, are you awake?"

Beckett slowly lifted her head. "Castle! You're ok!" She was suddenly wide-awake again. She wrapped one arm around him as much as she could and hugged him. It was not the way she ever imagined a hug would be with him. It was rather awkward with him in a hospital bed and her in a wheelchair, but she loved it just the same. Castle bent his head down and kissed the top of Beckett's head.

"Of course I'm ok, I'm Richard Castle. Nothing can hurt me!" he joked.

Castle knew Beckett well. He knew that she would be blaming herself for their current situation, and he didn't want that, so he put on his best happy face and tried his best not to look hurt at all.

"So, Lanie said the doctors want to keep me here overnight," Beckett said, letting go of him and sitting back in her chair. "How about you?"

"Yes, they are keeping me here too"

Kate was relieved when Castle said he was staying too. She didn't really want to be left at the hospital alone. But he was in a different room. Why had they done that? They came in together, they knew they were partners, they had to have police on both their doors as security, why didn't they just put them in the same room? It made more sense.

"Castle?" she asked. "Do you think we could stay together? I don't really want to be alone here in the hospital"

"These beds are tiny," he said with a smile. "I'm not sure we'd both fit."

Nothing had changed, he was still the Castle she knew.

"Castle," she hit him in the chest, and he cringed a little. She forgot, he was probably very sore. She apologized immediately and then gently placed her hand on his chest hoping her touch would help ease his pain.

She could feel his heart beating. It was a very strong heartbeat, she couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was there, touching him. She hoped that it was. A part of her wished she could just kiss all the pain away, but again, now was not the right time to be thinking about kissing him. They were both injured and needed rest.

The two had been silent for a few moments.

"I'll see if the doctor can move you into my room, there's a spare bed in there," she said. "That is, if you don't mind." She continued.

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again. You _need _me detective!" he laughed, which hurt his chest again, and he grimaced.

"Castle, you may be right, but if you keep making your silly jokes, your injuries are going to keep punishing you."

"Did she just say I was right?" Castle thought. "She _does_ need me." He decided it was most likely just the heavy dose of painkillers they both had been given, that were talking and she didn't mean it at all.

Lanie reentered the room at just the right time, and she was holding flowers with a card.

"Thanks Lanie," said Beckett. "But really, you didn't have to get me flowers"

Lanie shook her head and looked extremely confused.

One of the lady's in reception said she came back from a bathroom break and the flowers were on her desk with your name on it. Nobody saw who put them there. There's a note here.

She handed the note over to Beckett, and she read it. "Look no further, the hotel may be booked, but nothing is ever as it seems."

"What does that mean?" said Beckett and Castle simultaneously.

"No idea!" Lanie responded. "But you two need to rest, I'll take the note to the boys, and see if they can figure it out, you can have the flowers Kate."

Beckett didn't argue. Lanie was right, they needed to rest and the boys could continue working on it.

"Can you get the doctor Lanie?"

Lanie left again, soon returning with the doctor. They spoke with him for a few minutes and moments later they were both being taken back to Beckett's room.


	10. Chapter 10

**A night at the hospital and then back on the case... or not?  
**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Visiting hours were over, the doctor finished checking all Beckett and Castle's vitals and put the last few notes on their charts.

"Both of you need to rest, the nurses will come in during the night to check your vitals, they may not need to wake you unless something is wrong, so hopefully you will be able to get a good nights sleep."

"Thank you doctor," said Castle, as the doctor left his room. He really was looking forward to the sleep. The hospital bed wasn't as comfortable as his own, but he was so tired that he didn't think it would matter what he was laying on.

"Finally," thought Beckett. "Some time alone" She knew there was going to be no interruptions for a few hours until the nurses came to check everything. She could finally ask Castle how he _really_ was.

"Castle, I really am sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt like that. I thought I did the right thing, I didn't see that ditch, and I didn't think the ground would be so slippery."

Castle could hear how the fear and concern in her voice. It saddened him. "It's ok," he responded. "You did what you had to do. If you didn't, we could have ended up a lot worse, and could have had a number of other cars involved."

"I promise I'll make it up to you. We'll find the guy that did this, and we'll make him pay!"

Castle knew she meant it, she would not rest until this person was put away. She was a force not to be reckoned with.

"I know, you will," he said.

"Thank you for joining me in my room Castle, thank you for being there for me."

"Always," he said.

He had his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Beckett wanted to just go over and place her lips on his. But he needed rest.

"I have something to ask you," she said almost nervously.

"Yes," he responded. She could hear his voice getting softer, he was going to fall asleep any second.

"You know that award I was telling you about, well there is a ceremony where they give out these awards, and it's in a couple of days. I know it's late notice, but I'd like you to come with me," she swallowed and took a deep breath, "as my date." She held her breath waiting for his response.

"Of course, Kate. I would love to."

She let out her breathe. He had said yes. Not only that but, he used her first name. They were usually known as Beckett and Castle to each other, not Rick and Kate. It sent the butterflies flying around her stomach again.

"Goodnight Rick," she said and watched as he drifted off to sleep. She closed her eyes and soon was asleep herself.

* * *

Beckett and Castle were happy to be arriving at the precinct after leaving the hospital the next morning, Kate's head was no longer throbbing, and Castle had been given some more pain killers to take if his arm was sore. They were given last minute instructions, which included being told to take it easy and continue to rest.

Once they had arrived, they were going to get right back into the case and find the person who had murdered Montana and another, who had tried to run them off the road. Beckett knew that they were most likely linked but could not be sure.

When Gates saw the couple coming out of the elevator, she called them straight into her office.

"What are you two doing back here?" she asked. "You need to rest. Esposito and Ryan can work on the case for a couple of days without you."

"But, this is personal now, sir! Someone tried to run us off the road," Beckett fought back.

"I know, which is even more reason for you two to stay at home, away from this case."

"But sir…" Castle tried to interrupt.

"No Castle!" Gates said. " Ryan and Esposito have the information you gave them yesterday about the car that tried to run you off the road, and they're out there looking for that person, then they are going back to the hotel to see if they can find anything about that mystery note that was left for you yesterday. If we need you, we will let you know. Now go home!"

Beckett and Castle didn't like it, but they did as she wished and they left the precinct.

"Where to now, detective?" Castle asked raising his eyebrows. There is no way Beckett could stand back and do nothing.

"Home Castle," she said sharply.

"What? You're actually going to do what Gates said and let the boys do this on their own."

"No!" she laughed. "I can't question people looking like this. I need freshen up and have a shower."

"Oh," said Castle, nodding his head.

"What? No shower jokes this time?" she laughed as she hailed a cab. "You coming?"

* * *

The pair decided they would stop in at Castle's loft before going anywhere else. He was able to pick up some fresh clothing, and they could then get his car. A Ferrari wasn't the ideal car for a detective but they didn't really have a lot of options since Becketts car was in getting repairs, and because Gates had sent them home, they couldn't take one of the cars from the precinct. Beckett was quite excited about the idea of being able to drive Castle's Ferrari, he had his arm in a cast so he wasn't going to be able to drive.

Martha and Alexis were not home when they arrived so Castle left them a note to say he was going to be at Beckett's house for the day. He wasn't sure what either his mother or his daughter would think about that, but he did not have time to explain on his note so he just left it as it was.

When they walked in the front door of Becketts apartment she took Castle's coat and hung it up.

Beckett found him a clean towel and showed him to the bathroom where he could take a shower. They found a plastic bag and tape and covered Castle's hand and cast so it wouldn't get wet.

"The water sometimes takes a while to heat up," she said turning the hot water tap. "It's a pain, but give it time."

She was just about to head out the door when Castle stopped her. "Beckett?" he said. "Um, I could use a little help actually."

She turned to face him, and lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously Castle?" she said.

He looked down at his shirt. "It's hard to undo all these buttons with only one hand," he lifted his head to look at her. "Please. No funny business, I promise," he smiled at her.

Both of them knew that it was completely possible to undo the buttons with one hand, but neither of them would admit it.

How could she say no to him. He had those adorable puppy dog eyes.

"Ok" she said as she walked towards him.

One by one she started unbuttoning his shirt buttons, each button exposing more and more of his chest.

She took a deep breath in, he smelt great. She placed a hand on his chest, and stood there for a moment taking everything in.

"Um, Beckett?" He didn't want her to move, but he couldn't let her stay there. He really just wanted to take her in his arms right there, but he had promised no funny business. She was standing so close and she smelt so good. Her hand was on his chest. Castle had to get some control over the situation before his body lost it. "Those last few buttons aren't going to undo themselves."

"Oh, sorry, yes!" she said and quickly undid the bottom two buttons on his shirt. She was beginning to wonder whether this was a good idea, maybe she shouldn't have offered for him to have the shower after all. She wasn't sure she could stop herself from jumping in the shower with him.

"Thank you," he said as he slid his arms out of his shirt and it fell on the floor.

"I'll, um, go make coffee," Beckett said and turned towards the door again.

"Um… Beckett? Just one more problem."

As she turned, Castle had closed his eyes and screwed his face up like he knew this could be stepping over the line.

"There's a button on my pants."

Beckett took another deep breathe, walked towards him, helped him with the last button, turned and ran out the door closing it behind her as fast as possible. She leant back on the wall next to the bathroom door and let out a deep sigh. If she stayed only a few seconds longer, she would not have left that bathroom at all.

While Castle showered, and Beckett had pulled herself together again she went to make coffee. She sat herself down on the lounge and tried to work out the case. She was finding it so hard to concentrate. All she kept seeing was Castle's bare chest. All she wanted to do was go in the bathroom and join him in the shower.

"No! You must concentrate!" she said out loud to herself.

"No what?" said Castle. "Who are you talking to?" He had come out of the bathroom, and was walking into the lounge room.

"No one" said Beckett.

When Castle appeared in front of her, fully dressed, buttons all done up, she looked up at him. "So you couldn't undo your buttons, but you managed to do them up?" she asked somewhat unsure of how he managed it.

"Yes, it turns out, taking the plastic bag off my hand before attempting the buttons was very helpful! I would have left it on, if I knew you wanted to help me again detective," he gave that cheeky grin again.

"No Castle! I'm glad you did it yourself!" she said smiling. "I made you a coffee, I'll just go through and have a shower, I'll be out soon. You better not have used up all the hot water!"

Beckett got up and walked towards the shower.

Castle had taken a seat on the lounge and started drinking his coffee. When he'd finished he took his cup to think sink to wash it out. On his way back to the lounge he noticed Beckett had left her bedroom door open and had just come out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her body. She spotted him watching her, gave him a smile, and then closed the door.

"What?" he thought. "She didn't even scowl at me? She just smiled"

He sat down unable to remove the image from his head. Beckett wrapped in a towel, smiling at him. Her long slender legs, her hair tied up off her neck, her shoulders bare and beautiful, and her soft lips simply smiling at him.

"Snap out of it Castle" he thought to himself.

A few minutes later, Beckett came out of the bedroom dressed, with a serious expression ready to work on this case.


	11. Chapter 11

**Further into the case...  
**

**Characters do not belong to me :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"Unfortunately I wasn't able to get anything from the precinct when we were there earlier Castle. Not without Gates noticing," Beckett said.

"I know, she has the eyes of a hawk" he responded. "So do you remember that note yesterday from the mystery person, what did it say?" he asked.

"I don't know Castle, we were both given a good dose of pain killers, I'm surprised I remember receiving the flowers and the note."

"True," he said.

Suddenly, Kate remembered the conversion about the awards night. Castle had been given another dose of painkillers not long before that conversation, and he was barely awake, she wondered if he remembered what they had spoken about. Now was not the time to bring it up though, she was going to have to put that at the back of her mind and deal with it later.

"The note said something about the hotel, and being booked"

"But nothing is ever as it seems," Castle remembered.

"Yes, that's right. But what does it mean?" asked Beckett.

"No idea"

"C'mon Castle, you've always got some sort of theory."

"Not this time. It must be the cast, its soaking up all my ideas," joked Castle.

"What, so your brain is in your arm now Castle?" she bumped his shoulder with hers, which he considered to be a sign that she liked to be close to him. She did it when she joked. It was almost her way of showing she didn't actually mean what she was saying. Thankfully, the injuries from the previous day were feeling much better or that bump could have hurt. Those painkillers were great! He didn't want Beckett to stop being so physical, but if it caused him pain and she noticed, he knew she would stop right away.

"The hotel is booked," he was thinking out loud. "How busy is that hotel Beckett?"

Remembering back to the list of names they had been given the day before, there were a large number of people on that list.

"I think it's a fairly busy hotel! We were given a lot of names yesterday. Where is that list anyway? I had completely forgotten about it."

"Don't worry detective. When you were asleep at the hospital yesterday, I saw Ryan and Esposito and told them about it. They said they would go to the garage where your car is, and they'd follow it up."

"Wow… thanks Castle! I'm actually surprised you had remembered about it after the accident."

"I have a good memory. Nothing special really"

"Oh but you are special Castle, you're special to me," Beckett responded without much thought.

She realised what she had said immediately after saying it. She had just admitted to Castle that she thought he was special. If she was quick, she could disguise it.

"You're special to the team!" she corrected. "Not many detectives have their own writer to help them out."

"Phew!" she thought, hoping she'd covered it up enough.

Castle could see that Beckett was nervous about what she had just said and he didn't want to make things awkward for her. "So, back to the hotel. Maybe we need to call bookings and see just how booked they are," he said, bringing the focus back onto the case.

Beckett made the call, she spoke to the bookings manager at the hotel and confirmed that the hotel was almost always fully booked, however, the manager had always asked for one room to be kept spare for a friend. Mr Martiloni, the manager, had never mentioned who the room was for, or what it was for. He didn't even mind if the room was a different room each day, as long as there was always an empty room.

"The manager keeps a room empty for a friend," Beckett said to Castle. "There's something strange about that."

"Maybe," Castle had an idea. "they were doing drugs in that room, and that's where the exchange took place, or maybe he had a business where he would provide 'girls' for someone and this room was where their business took place"

"Or," Beckett interrupted, "Maybe the manager was staying in this room himself."

"Maybe," said Castle, but that makes a boring story.

"Well, we've got to talk to the manager and see who this friend is, if there is a friend"

"Let's get our rogue on!" said Castle.

Beckett simply looked at him and shook her head. "Ok Castle, let's go!"

* * *

When Castle and Beckett arrived at the hotel, Hayley recognized them immediately.

"Who would you like to speak to today detective?" she asked. Castle still thought she seemed a little nervous but he decided it was most likely because she was still new to the job.

Beckett asked to see the manager. Hayley was unable to contact him, he wasn't in his office. He was here not too long ago detective, it's possible he's gone to lunch. He should be back within the hour, is there anything else I can do for you?

"Yes, you have access to the bookings, and the people staying in each room, don't you?" Beckett asked. She knew that Hayley would probably give her anything she wanted without a second thought. She knew the manager would most likely ask for a warrant before giving her such details.

"Yes, I do," Hayley responded.

"Any chance you could tell me which room was kept spare for Mr Martiloni on Monday?"

"Sure," she said.

After clicking a few buttons on her computer, she found which room it was. "Room 318" she said. "The same room has been kept empty for Mr Martiloni all week."

"Does Mr Martiloni stay in that room Hayley?" asked Castle curiously.

"No, not that I'm aware of. I see him leave home every day. He has a wife and 2 kids at home, I don't know why he would need to stay here."

"Do you know who does stay in that room?" asked Beckett.

"No, I'm afraid not. I don't think anyone knows. Mr Martiloni always takes the key. So we guessed that he probably gives it to whoever it is that needs it, and he comes in unnoticed. We have a lot of people coming and going, its difficult to keep track of everyone. If they have a key, we don't question them."

"Any chance we could take a look in room 318 then?" Beckett asked.

"I don't see why not" Hayley responded and gave them a pass to access the room.

They found the room and knocked on the door. They didn't know if anyone was in there, but they thought they'd knock just incase.

"NYPD, open up!" said Castle.

Beckett glared at him.

"What? I've always wanted to know what it was like to do that. Now I know. It wasn't as exciting as I thought. Can I kick down the door?"

"No Castle! We have a pass to get in, we don't need to kick it down."

Castle pouted.

"And besides…" Beckett continued. "I'm not sure you would have the strength right now, you are still recovering from the accident yesterday."

"Good point!" Castle agreed.

It didn't sound like anyone was coming to the door, so Kate opened it with the pass. The room was empty.

"Let's take a look Castle, see if you can find something."

It wasn't long before Beckett found something that she believed would crack the case wide open.

"Castle," she called him over and pointed to something on the floor next to the bedpost, and almost hidden under the bed. "Do you think this could be the necklace Mark was talking about?"

"That's quite possible," Castle said and watched as Beckett placed it in an evidence bag.

"And if it is," she said. "We may have just found where the murder took place."

They continued to search the room, but found nothing further. They still needed to talk to the manager to find out who he had been saving the room for, and then they needed to have a team sent in from the precinct to do a complete sweep of the room for prints or further evidence.

Castle followed Beckett back downstairs to the reception desk. They had spent over an hour in the room, and were expecting the manager to have returned from his break.

"Is Mr Martiloni back yet?" Becket asked.

"No," said Hayley, sounding worried.

"What is it Hayley?" Castle asked, picking up on the worry. With a teenage daughter at home, he always seemed to know the sound of worry in a young womans voice.

"Well, after you had gone upstairs I remembered the last time I saw Mr Martiloni this morning. A guy came in here earlier, he was asking me lots of questions about the girl who was murdered. He thought I would know something. He kept saying something about a necklace, and was asking if one of the cleaners had found one. I didn't know what the guy was talking about. I asked if he had stayed here and lost the necklace, if I could just look up the room number it may have helped find what he was looking for, but he said he had never been a guest. But that's when Mr Martiloni came out of his office. He had seen the fuss this guy was making and he took him out the back. The next thing I remember is a lot of shouting, I don't know what it was about. But, I haven't seen Mr Martiloni or the other man since then."

"Can you describe to us what this man looked like," Beckett asked.

"Yes," said Hayley and she described someone who sounded a lot like…

"Mark Holt!" said Beckett and Castle together.

"So Mr Martiloni and Mark are old friends," started Castle.

"And Mark has been staying in this room Mr Martiloni has been keeping, which explains why he's been seen hanging around," Beckett continued the story.

"Mark caught up with Montana and told her to meet him in the room."

"And when she did, Mark surprised her."

"And suffocated her."

They looked at each other, thinking they had just solved it.

"But what about the suitcase?" asked Beckett.

"Maybe Mr Martiloni was in on it too, and he stole the case knowing he could blame it on a staff member," replied Castle.

"But then what was the argument about?"

"Mark had come to make sure there was no evidence left behind and when Mr Martiloni saw him he had second thoughts about the whole thing and wanted to come clean, but Mark didn't want to. When Mr Martiloni would not allow him up to the room he got angry," Castle said.

"And now Mark has Martiloni!" looking directly at Castle.

"We need to catch Mark before he kills again!" they both said together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Still searching for the murderer...  
**

**Characters... not mine :) Well some are, but I'm sure you know that.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

The pair walked back into the precinct knowing that Gates was going to be unhappy with them continuing on the case after she told them to go home and rest.

They briefly spoke to Ryan and Esposito and handed them the necklace they had found, and asked them to send a team to the hotel room. They had advised Hayley not to let anyone in that room before the guys had been there. Hayley agreed she would do her best to keep people out, she didn't see why anyone would need to use the room, but the security system logs all entrances so they would know if someone has gone in or not.

Castle saw Gates waiting at her office door, watching him and Beckett. "Beckett, I think Gates is waiting for us," he said.

They entered her office and waited for her to explode.

"I'm not even going to ask what you think two are doing, I'm just going to tell you to go home. If I see you back here again today, I will suspend you! And Castle, you don't even work here, so I can easily get rid of you!" she said.

"Sir," started Beckett. She wasn't sure she would be able to say much but it was worth a try. "Castle has just found a lead, and may have discovered who the killer is. We found the necklace at the hotel and have just asked Esposito to send a team out to do a full sweep of the hotel room it was found in. Mr Martiloni, the hotel manager, and Mark Holt had gotten into an argument this morning. We think Mark has Mr Martiloni and he may kill again!"

Gates' face had changed from a frown to general interest.

"And how do you know for sure."

"We don't," said Castle.

"Castle! Let me do the talking," Beckett said. "Well, we don't know for sure, but we can't wait for another murder before following this one."

Gates had been distracted by something in the bullpen.

"Well, it seems it might be easier than you thought. Mark is out there right now."

"What?" Castle turned around, and sure enough Mark was coming out of the elevator.

Beckett and Castle quickly left the office and took Mark into the interrogation room again.

* * *

The three of them sat down. It was obvious to Beckett and Castle that Mark had recently been involved in some sort of fight. He had a black eye and a gash just above it. His lip was also quite swollen.

"Mr Holt. Why are you here and what have you been up to?"

"I have information, about Montana," he said.

Beckett wasn't sure whether she should just let him talk, or if she should be asking him the questions. She decided she would listen to what he had to say first. He obviously had not been beaten for no reason.

Mark told his story. "I went to the hotel this morning. I was upset, I wanted to know what happened to Montana, and I knew someone there had to know something. The girl at the reception desk wouldn't help me and then the manager came out. He took me outside and told me to leave. I told him I wouldn't leave until I had some answers."

"We need the information about Montana, Mark"

"Yes, yes, I'm getting there!" he said. "It turns out that Mr hotel manager had been having an affair with Montana, which I refuse to believe. There is no way she would go for someone like that! He's…"

"Mr Holt. We don't need your personal opinion," Beckett interrupted again.

"Sorry… He and Montana had been seeing each other, he told me she never loved me. When I asked him about the necklace, he said he had no idea what I was talking about. But I knew by the look on his face, he knew exactly what necklace it was. The next thing you know, he had thrown a few punches, I was down on the ground and he had run off."

"You're telling me the well dressed, tall, slim man, actually beat you in a fist fight?" asked Beckett.

Castle was holding back the laughter.

"Yes, he caught me off guard!" said Mark.

"And where is Mr Martiloni now?" asked Castle, regaining composure.

"I don't know, by the time I had gotten up and followed him, he had disappeared around the corner and I lost him. I've been walking the streets looking for him, but when I couldn't find him, I came straight here."

"Stay here Mr Holt," Beckett said and pulled Castle out of the room.

"Do you think he's telling the truth Beckett?" asked Castle.

"If you were telling a story about yourself, would you admit to being beaten by someone like Mr Martiloni?"

"No"

"Well, I think maybe he's telling the truth, and our killer is now on the run. We need to find him before he finds us. After talking to Marks friend Jen, who may have been the one person to see Mr Martiloni with Montana, we were given a list of people who had been at the hotel in the past 2 weeks, who could have been further witnesses to his affair. He wouldn't want us getting any more information. It was probably him who followed us and ran us off the road trying to scare us away from the case. But what was Mr Martiloni's motive for murder?"

"That's an easy one, Beckett!" said Castle. "Jealousy! He noticed Mark hanging around the hotel, found out that he was asking questions about Montana, put two and two together and thought that Montana was seeing Mark behind his back."

"And the whole time, he was cheating on his wife. Seems kind of hypocritical doesn't it?"

"Yes it does!" Castle said.

"Ok. We've got to let Mark go, and then find Mr Martiloni. Hopefully the boys will be back with some more evidence from the hotel room soon."

They went back into the interrogation room and told Mark he was free to go, again. They told him to leave the detective work to the detectives. Then they had to try and track down Mr Martiloni.

* * *

After a few hours, Castle and Beckett had tried everything. Mr Martiloni had disappeared. They had gone past his house, his workplace, they had driven the city streets looking for him. He was nowhere to be seen. His phone had been dumped in a gutter not far from the hotel, and he had not used any of his credit cards since the morning. He was untraceable, and he could have been anywhere by now. They put out an APB on him, and all they could do was wait. They hoped that he would eventually use his credit card, or contact his wife. They would get him but for now they had to focus on setting up the case around him. Finding him was one thing, proving he was guilty was another.

The boys had come back from the hotel. The sweep had found an unusual amount of saliva on one of the pillows from the room, so they had sent it off for testing. If it matched with Montana, it was possible they had found how she was suffocated.

They had found lots of prints in the room as expected, so they weren't sure they could get a lot from them. However, if Montana's prints were among them, it would at least confirm further that she had been in that room.

Esposito had also confirmed with the hotel security logs that the only key used to enter that room from Monday until Castle and Beckett went in was the one issued to Mr Martiloni and it had not been entered since Monday afternoon. If everything matched how they expected it to, it wouldn't be long before they could close the case. The easiest way to do that would be with a confession from Mr Martiloni himself, but they had to find him first.

When they realised there was nothing further they could do, they decided they would go home and get some rest. It had been a big day for them, and they were still recovering from the accident the day before. Both Beckett and Castle were surprised that they weren't feeling more sore. It must have been the adrenalin and the excitement of the case that had kept them from feeling any pain.

* * *

Castle waited as Beckett collected her things from her desk, and tidied her area. Her car was still in the garage for repairs and with his arm in a cast, he was unable to drive himself and his Ferrari home, so they had decided Beckett would drive him home and then catch a cab back to her place.

They rode the elevator down to the car park together and Castle walked slightly in front of Beckett so that he could open her door for her. The least he could do was be a gentleman after all that she had done for him.

As they were driving home Beckett turned to Castle and admitted something that she never thought she would admit to him.

"Castle," she said.

"Yes Beckett"

"I'm kinda scared."

What Kate Beckett scared? Castle was shocked by this statement. He had come to believe that nothing could ever scare Kate Beckett.

"What are you afraid of?" he said.

"Being alone. Tonight."

Castle could hear the fear in her voice, she really was scared.

"Hey," he turned briefly to look at her, "you don't need to be scared. What exactly is it?"

"Well," she said. "This killer is on the run, we have absolutely no idea where he is, and he's already tried to kill us by running us off the road once. What if this time he tries something different? I just don't think it's safe to be alone tonight."

"You don't need to be alone. We have a spare room, you can come stay with me at the loft."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude. Alexis and your mother won't mind?"

"No, they will understand Kate. They will love the idea," he said and he rested his hand on her knee gently stroking it with his thumb.

He knew exactly how to make her feel safe. She loved that about him.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him.

Castle smiled back and she could see the love and care that he had for her right there in his eyes.

They stopped into Beckett's place to pick up a few things, and then continued on the trip back to Castle's loft.

When they arrived, Castle helped Beckett out of the car with her things.

She reached out for his hand and stopped him before he got to the entrance, forcing him to turn to face her. She was staring at the floor.

He lifted his casted hand and placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her face to look at him.

"What's wrong? Is there something you're not saying?"

"No, no, I just want to make sure you are definitely okay with this. I could call my dad, I'm sure I can stay with him."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said smiling down at her. "You're here now, and I'm glad that you are."

"Ok," she said, looking into his eyes she could see he meant it. He was glad she was there.

"Beckett, promise me, you'll have fun and you'll stop worrying."

"Ok, I promise," she said, starting to feel the worry go from her mind and starting to smile.

He's done it again, he's taken away her worry and replaced it with a smile.

"And Kate, thank you for looking out for me."

"What do you mean?" she said, feeling confused.

"When Gates was threatening to get rid of me today, you stuck up for me, you said I may have discovered who the killer was. You didn't say we, you know that it was more you than me, but you also know that she would have no trouble throwing me out if she wanted to. I'm sure it's not the last time either. So, thank you for looking out for me."

"Always," she said softly with a smile.

Realising she still had a hold of his hand, she let go.

"Now lets get inside before we freeze out here." She said pushing her way through.

Castle followed. It was just like her to break the moment before it became too much for her handle.


	13. Chapter 13

**A night at the loft... Castle can only cause mischief here!  
**

**Disclaimer - Castle etc do not belong to me :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"Dad!" Alexis shouted when she heart them enter the loft. She came running down the stairs. She slowed down as she reached the bottom remembering he may have been in pain still. She still gave him one of her big Alexis hugs, and he kissed her head.

"I see we have company tonight, Richard" said Martha as she came out from the office. Castle didn't know what she did in there but he knew that asking would get him nowhere.

"I hope you don't mind me being here, Martha," said Beckett. "I just didn't…" she paused, not quite sure what to say. She didn't want to tell Martha she didn't want to be alone.

"We thought it would be safer if she had company tonight, with the killer still out there somewhere." Castle stepped in, noticing Beckett's hesitation and letting go of his daughters hug.

"Of course, it's fine detective. We love having you here," Martha said with a smile, taking Becketts jacket.

Alexis then reached out and gave Beckett a hug that instantly made her feel right at home.

Martha made her way to the kitchen. "So, I was thinking, home made pizza for dinner tonight."

"That would be lovely Martha," said Beckett.

"So glad you are both okay," Alexis said to them. "I've just got to go finish up something in my room. I'll be back down to help with the pizza soon grams!"

Now that both his daughter and his mother had gone back to do their own thing, he was able to show Beckett to the spare room. "C'mon Beckett," he said. "Let's take your things to the spare room."

They went and put Beckett's things in the room. "Thanks again Castle," she said.

"No need to keep thanking me, I know you would do the same thing for me if you needed to. We're partners, that's what partners do!"

They walked back out into the lounge.

"Relax, make yourself at home, and I'm going to help mother in the kitchen. Would you like a drink?" Castle asked.

"A drink would be great, and I'd love to help with dinner myself if that's ok. I can't sit around doing nothing, can I?" she smiled as they made their way to the kitchen.

"No detective, we can't have that at all" said Martha, when she overheard them coming.

Martha already had some pizza bases laid out on the table ready for topping and she had started cutting up come capsicum.

"How can I help?" asked Beckett.

Martha handed over a knife and a chopping board. "We've got all sorts of things here bacon, mushroom, onion, pineapple. I guess we should all just get chopping."

It wasn't long before Alexis had come down again and was also there chopping things for the pizza.

While chopping, Castle handed Beckett a glass of red wine.

"I thought you might like this to help wind down," he said.

"Castle! You're not trying to get me drunk are you?" she joked, taking the glass from him.

"Of course not detective, I have an impressionable teenage daughter in the house," he responded.

"Well that's lucky, because you would need a lot more than one glass," she laughed.

Alexis and Martha had started putting the toppings on the pizza. When Martha noticed that since joining her in the kitchen, her son hadn't really done a thing.

"Richard," Martha said. "If you're not going to help us in here, we wont let you eat any of our creation."

"Castle! You haven't done anything to help?" Beckett was surprised she had not noticed it earlier herself.

"It's ok, dad does this all the time. He likes to see how long he can get away with it," Alexis piped up.

"Well, no food for you then Castle!" said Beckett poking her tongue out at him.

There must have been something about the house that brought out child like behaviour.

"Oh really?" said Castle, picking up a piece of capsicum. "What are you going to do if I do this?" He placed the capsicum in his mouth and ate it. And then picked up some pineapple and went to put it in his mouth."

Beckett reached out her hand and tried to stop Castle from eating the piece, which only resulted in her chasing him around the kitchen and into the lounge until she tackled him onto the floor. He lay on his back and Beckett had knelt over the top of him, almost sitting on him, one knee either side of his chest so that he couldn't move.

She was laughing so much, she had tears in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun, and was this happy. Castle was still holding the piece of pineapple in his hand, he lifted it up above his face and then suddenly, without thinking, Beckett ate it straight out of his fingers.

They stayed there for a few moments, Castle stunned at what had just happened. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was in a little bit of pain from his injuries, but Kate Beckett was sitting on him. She had pretty much pinned him down and he couldn't move even if he wanted to.

Beckett didn't want to move. She had Castle all to herself, but she saw the slight pain in his eyes are remembered the injuries, so she got up off the floor and held out a hand to help Castle up.

"So, Beckett? Is there anything you don't want on a pizza?" Martha asked, knowing now that she wouldn't be interrupting her son and his childish games with his partner. Castle had made his way back into the kitchen to see where he could help.

"Oh um, no olives for me thanks"

"What was that, no olives?" Castle called. He picked up an olive and threw it at Beckett.

Castle was behaving extremely childish tonight, but Beckett loved every second of it. It was nice to see him relaxed and carefree. She wished she had known this side of him earlier.

"Yes Castle!" she said. "No olives!" she threw the olive back at him.

A few seconds later and handful of food was flying at Beckett. And that was the end of dinner. Dinner then became house decoration and clothing accessories as it was flung to and fro around the kitchen. Martha tried to stay out of the way at first, but eventually gave up and joined in.

When they realised they had just thrown their dinner all over the place Castle picked up the phone. "Take out?" he said.

Alexis and Beckett nodded while Martha just smiled and started cleaning up.

With all 4 of them helping, it wasn't long before the house was cleaned and the delivery boy delivered some more pizza.

"Now," Castle said to the ladies, "this pizza is for eating, not for throwing" he said placing it on the table.

Once they'd all had dinner, Alexis showered and headed up to her bedroom to read. Martha followed soon after leaving her son and Kate alone in the lounge.

Castle decided he wanted to watch a movie, and asked Beckett if she wanted to join him, which she did. She thought it would be a nice way to unwind after the very eventful dinner episode.

"Do you have a movie in mind?" Beckett asked.

"Well, you might find this a little bit of a girly choice," he said. "But I was thinking Notting Hill."

"Wow Castle, I would not have picked you for a Notting Hill fan, I love that movie!" she replied.

Castle put the DVD in the player while Beckett went to clean herself up. When she returned Castle was sitting on the lounge with the remote waiting for her to return. He had poured them both another glass of wine, and was ready to relax and watch the movie.

She went to the lounge and sat down next to Castle. Much to his surprise she sat extremely close, she had allowed her leg to lean against his own. She curled her legs up next to her, leant back resting her body against his, and put her head on his shoulder.

"Do you mind?" she asked softly, as she rested her head. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Of course not," said Castle and he lifted his arm over and around her shoulders, pulling her into him. He could get used to this, it felt so natural for them.

He pressed play and the movie started.

About two hours later, the movie was finishing, Beckett had stayed in the same position, comfortable, the whole movie. When she finally moved she looked up at Castle who was wiping tears from his eyes.

"It gets me every time," he said. "She's just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. It's beautiful!"

She didn't realise someone who wrote murder books for a living could have such a huge heart, but it seemed that he did. As she spent more time with him, she realised he was quite the romanticist.

"Sometimes I really don't know what to say to you Castle!" she said as she stood up. "But right now, I think I should probably go get some sleep."

As she made her way to the spare room, Castle called after her, "you know where I am if you need me."

"Goodnight Castle!" she called, not turning to look at him and smiling to herself.

"Goodnight Beckett!" he called back.


	14. Chapter 14

**The night continues...  
**

**Still not my show... but it is my story :)  
**

**Chapter 14**

Beckett woke and looked at the clock beside her. It was now 2.17am. She had been awake for almost 45 min and there was no way her mind was going to let her get back to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would get flashes of these images in her head. She didn't want to see them any more, but she knew she needed sleep. She doesn't ever remember having sweat so much at night before. That nightmare had really frightened her.

She knew she was safe, she wasn't home alone, but it didn't seem to help calm her. She wondered if Castle was awake, or if he was sound asleep. She got up and started to make her way through the dark house, to his bedroom. She knew it was wrong to go in there but she thought if he was awake then he could do what he always does in his own way. He could make her smile, make her feel safe and she would be able to go back to the room and sleep again.

There was just enough light shining from the moon that she could see his face resting gently on his pillow. He was sound asleep. Beckett was a little disappointed. What was she going to do now? She couldn't sleep and she had no one to talk to. She thought about putting a movie on, but thought the noise may wake someone in the house. It wasn't just Castle she had to think about, Alexis and Martha were sleeping too.

She watched him for a while, so peaceful. She felt herself smile, and without realising what she was doing, she started walking towards him. She knelt down beside his bed, next to where he was sleeping. He looked so sweet, so innocent, it was not the Castle she was used to seeing. She noticed some of his hair had fallen in front of his eye, so she picked up her hand and gently brushed it back.

"Who-pa-sha," Beckett had made Castle suddenly jump, and as he did he made some sort of crazy noise and performed Karate moves knocking Becketts hand out of the way, and then he sat up straight in bed.

Beckett was so embarrassed, she tried to hide, and layed face down on the floor next to his bed, almost under it. There was no way he could see her there. Unfortunately for her, now that Castle had been woken, he decided to go use the bathroom. He switched on his lamp, swung his feet over the edge of the bed and realised there was something unusual about his carpet.

He looked down to where Beckett was laying, "Beckett? What are you doing on my floor?"

She kept her head down, she didn't want to look at him. "I couldn't sleep," she said.

"And you thought my floor was a better option than the bed you were in?" Castle questioned.

"Yes… well, no… I" Beckett was now regretting coming out of the spare room. "Were you getting up to go somewhere?" she tried to change the subject.

"The bathroom, but it can wait until you tell me what's going on. You're scaring me a little bit detective, this is not like you at all"

"It's ok Castle, you go to the bathroom, and then I'll explain."

Castle quickly went to the bathroom and came back out again. Beckett had moved, she was no longer lying face down on the floor, but she was sitting on the floor next to his bed.

"You must find the floor extremely comfortable," he said. "But I think I'll take the bed myself." He sat down on the bed with his legs hanging over the side beside her. "What's wrong Kate?" he said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know," she said. "I can't sleep, I mean I could, but then I had these visions, nightmares, and now I just can't close my eyes again. I can't make them go away."

"What happened, what did you see?" he asked.

"It was just flashes of different things. I saw a hand clutching something, then a chain, it was my chain with my mums ring, the hand was clutching the chain. Then I saw blood, lots of it. I could hear laughing, it was horrible. And then I saw a body, it was just laying there, lifeless" Her breathing had started to increase rapidly, and her voice was beginning to shake.

Castle knew he couldn't leave her there on the floor on her own, he had to join her, so he slid his way down the bed and sat beside her.

"Castle, it was you. You had my necklace, you were bleeding, you were gone Castle!" She buried herself into his chest and the tears just started flowing."

Beckett had surprised herself, she had not realised how emotional she was.

Castle held his arms around her, holding her safe and still, helping her take control of her emotions again. As she sat there, curled up in his arms, he rested his head on hers, surrounding her with safety, letting her know that he was there, he was not gone, he was right there with her.

"I'm sorry," she said once the tears had stopped. "I didn't mean to wake you. I should go back to bed."

"Kate," said Richard looking directly into her eyes. "You know, you can always come to me, no matter what time of day. I'm always here for you. Always."

"I know," repeated Kate. "I really should sleep though."

She got up off the floor and then reached down to give Castle a hand, and helped him up. Castle didn't want to let go of her, he wanted to know she was safe, but once again, he didn't want to push things too far with her. He knew she was a tough woman to crack, and he would wait for her to make the move. He let go of her hand, and sat back down on his bed as she walked back out of the room.

Castle had just started settling his legs under the covers, when Beckett reached the door way and she turned back to him. "Rick?" she said. "Is there room in there for one more? I just don't think I can sleep on my own tonight."

"Of course Kate, there's plenty of room for one more, he said and he pulled down the covers on the other side of the bed."

She slowly made her way over, not quite sure what she was doing, or if this was even a good option for her. No, surely he wouldn't push the boundaries too far, but would she? Could she trust herself?

Castle watched her as she climbed onto the bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out. He could not believe she had actually asked to share his bed.

Beckett made her way in and lay down on her back. Castle did the same. They both lay there, on their backs, eyes wide open, neither of them moving, not sure if the other had gone to sleep yet.

"What have I done?" thought Beckett. "This is so awkward"

"Rick?" she whispered.

He hummed in response.

"You don't have to sleep like a twig just coz I'm here," she turned her head to look at him, and they both laughed.

"Much better," she thought.

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. Moments later, she felt his body move in close behind her, and his arm wrapped around her stomach to pull her in closer. She could feel his breathing on her neck.

"So, you're a snuggler," she whispered.

"Shhhhh…" he said, "it's time to sleep"

She had never felt so safe in her life, but she had finally found home. Home in his arms. She didn't know what was ahead of them, but she knew whatever it was, they would tackle it together. She just hoped that he felt the same.

She felt him pull her even closer, and she closed her eyes. It wasn't long before they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The sun shining down on Becketts face and into her eyes woke her. Castle was still sleeping next to her. His arm draped over her body. She could get used to waking like this. But wait… what did it mean? They didn't really talk all that much about it, she was upset, he comforted her, and then they shared a bed. There was nothing more to it. Beckett had to get out and think about what this meant for them. Did it mean anything at all? She didn't know. She gently lifted Castle's arm and slowly rolled out of bed.

"The least I can do is make breakfast for him," she thought.

She was glad she woke rather early, she would be the first one up and Martha and Alexis didn't need to know where she had spent most of her night.

She was just closing Castle's door behind her, when she heard footsteps.

"Good morning Beckett," it was Martha.

"Hi, I was just, um…"

"No need to explain," Martha interrupted and she walked into the bathroom.

Beckett slapped her hand to her head. Oh no! What did Martha think! Maybe nothing, maybe she didn't actually see her coming out of his room, she may have just been closing his door so she didn't wake him.

She started looking around the kitchen for ingredients to make pancakes, and she soon had a mixing bowl out and was preparing the mixture. It was just about ready when Castle came out of his room. "Kate, you should have woken me. How can I help?"

"He called me Kate," she thought. It was a good sign for her. Maybe last night did mean something after all. Now was not the time to talk about it, not when she knew Martha would be out any second.

She smiled at the thought of responding using his first name. "No Rick," she said as she went to the cupboard to get the fry pan. "You cannot help me, you said you would help last night with dinner, and it ended up everywhere it wasn't meant to be."

He walked into the kitchen, "Who said it wasn't meant to end up there, we still ate didn't we? And we had fun! I think I helped just the right amount with dinner," he said approaching the pancake mixture.

"No, don't you dare touch that" she said.

"Oops, too late!" he said shrugging his shoulders and grinning. He placed his finger in the pancake mixture. "What do I do now?" he was making his way over to her.

"Castle! No! Don't!"

"Oops," he said again, and wiped the mixture off his finger onto her nose. "It appears you have some pancake mixture on your nose Beckett!"

Martha entered at just the right moment.

"Oh Richard," she said. "Leave the poor woman alone, go have a shower and let her finish making breakfast. I can help in the kitchen."

"Oh mother, you ruined my fun," he pouted.

"Yes, well you were ruining my breakfast!" she responded and pointed towards his door, signaling for him to have a shower.

"Thank you Martha," said Beckett as Castle disappeared into his room.

She didn't realise that Martha had her own reasons for telling her son to go have a shower. She wanted some alone time to talk to Beckett about why she had come out Castle's room and not the spare room this morning. Martha started putting the coffee on and got plates out ready for Beckett.

After a few minutes she decided to break the silence.

"How did you sleep detective?" Martha asked.

"Very well, thanks Martha," Beckett responded as she started to put pancake mixture in the pan. She would have them all ready to eat by the time Castle got out of the shower.

"The bed in the guest room wasn't too uncomfortable for you was it?" Martha asked. She wondered how long it would be before Beckett opened up to her.

"Oh, um, no, it was fine." Beckett was struggling, she didn't want to just come out and tell Martha that she had stayed with Castle most of the night, but she didn't want to lie either.

"Oh I see," Martha said.

Beckett was flipping pancakes like a professional, it was obvious she has had plenty of practice.

"And how was my son when you got up this morning?" Martha thought maybe she could trip Beckett up.

"No, well we haven't spoken much this morning, I got up and started making pancakes." She still was not lying. "He didn't mention it when he came out earlier, so I guess it must be ok."

"Darn it!" thought Martha. What else could she ask?

"How about his arm, did he complain of any pain last night?"

"No, he didn't mention it before I went to bed"

"Hmmmm…" Martha responded.

Beckett had figured Martha out by now. She knew Martha thought there was more to it, so Beckett decided she would just be honest. It was only Martha after all, it's not like it was Ryan or Esposito trying to get information from her. She certainly would not be telling them any time soon.

"Martha, I know you saw me coming out of Castle's room this morning. I couldn't sleep last night," she wasn't sure exactly what to say, she felt a nightmare was a very childish excuse to not be able to sleep on your own. It's the type of thing children do with their parents when they are young. "I… I just had something on my mind, and so Castle and I talked and…."

There was a long pause.

"Martha, he just made me feel safe, like nothing could harm me. He made me feel at home, and happy. He only has to be in the same room as me and I feel better. So, I stayed there last night, where I felt safe, but nothing happened," she said. "We simply shared the same bed. He means a lot to me and I would never do anything to hurt our friendship."

"I know he cares very much for your friendship too," Martha reached out and gave the detective a hug. She knew this was the start of something new for her son and his partner.

Castle had been in his room getting dressed when he overheard the last of the conversion his partner had with his mother. He decided he should wait a few minutes before making an appearance, he didn't want them to know he was listening so he stayed in his room a little longer.

He heard Alexis coming down the stairs from her room mentioning how great the pancakes were smelling and decided that it would be the perfect time. His mother and Beckett would no longer be thinking about the conversation they just had.

They all sat at the kitchen bench devouring the pancakes.

"So, what's the plans for today?" asked Alexis.

"We have a killer to locate," said Castle.

"And after that?" Alexis questioned.

"Paper work, and lots of it," Beckett jumped in. "And oh gosh, I almost forgot. Castle, you know how we were talking about the awards ceremony. You had so many painkillers at the hospital and were half asleep when I told you, I don't even know if you would remember. Well, that's tonight! I totally understand if you can't come, or if you don't want to. We've spent a lot of time together over the past few days," she was talking so fast, it was hard to keep up. "I understand if you want to have some family time."

Castle reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. "Of course I remember, and I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said smiling.

"Thank you," Beckett said quietly, putting her free hand on top of his.

They smiled at each other and then continued to eat their pancakes.

When breakfast was finished and both Castle and Beckett were dressed, they left for the precinct.


	15. Chapter 15

**Time to catch a killer  
**

**Disclaimer: Castle, Beckett etc do not belong to me :)**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

At the precinct Beckett continued going through paperwork, trying to find anything that would give them a clue to where Mr Martiloni would be, but coming up with nothing. Castle had been coming up with all sorts of theories as to where the killer would be hiding if it were one of his books. Nothing was of any help though.

A few hours into the morning Beckett's phone rang.

"Beckett," she answered and continued to listen, "Yes, thank you"

Beckett called Ryan and Esposito over. "Mr Martiloni has slipped up, he's just used his card at an ATM and taken out a large sum of cash. It looks like he's trying to do a runner."

She gave them the address of the ATM and continued,

"He would have to have stayed somewhere last night, check all motels and hotels within the area and ask if they had any last minute visitors. We may just get lucky!"

"Getting lucky at a motel Beckett? I thought you were classier than that," said Castle winking at her.

Beckett looked at Castle, shook her head, and then turned back to the other guys.

"Let me know if you get anything."

The boys went back to their desk and started calling all the hotels and motels near the ATM.

Beckett turned back to Castle, stood in front of him, not too close but not too far away.

In a sultry voice she said to him, "Castle… I've gotten lucky plenty of times at motels. Next time," she grabbed hold of his shirt collar and pulled him closer, "I hope you'll be around to see."

Castle swallowed hard.

She dropped the sultry voice and continued "And you can hold the door open while I drag the unlucky guy out in cuffs and put him in jail for years." She let go of his collar and pushed him away. He was just too easy these days, didn't even put up a fight, and she loved it.

After making about 4 phone calls, Ryan said he had found a motel who had a last minute guest who matched the description of Mr Martiloni. It was time to go get him.

* * *

They arrived at the motel, put on their vests and had the motel manager let them into the room where Mr Martiloni was staying. Much to their surprise, Mr Martiloni was there… sleeping.

"Seriously?" said Esposito. "We can't find him, and then when we do, he's sleeping!"

They woke him up cuffed him and led him out to the car, to take him to the precinct.

Castle and Beckett had a quick look around the hotel room to see if there was any further evidence they could use in the case.

There was a small table with a couple of hand written notes. One written to his wife and kids, another to Montana's family. He had written to say sorry for what he had done. He had confessed to the murder on these notes, and he was going to turn himself in once he had mailed them. He had withdrawn the large amount of cash to give to Montana's family. He knew nothing would bring back their daughter, but it was all he could do to say sorry.

"This is one very strange man," said Castle. "I don't understand him at all. As a character, he just doesn't make any sense."

"Sometimes, things we don't understand Castle, the things that we think don't make any sense, are the things that are right." Beckett wasn't just talking about the case. She was thinking about herself and him. They didn't make sense, she didn't understand how they worked so well together, and how he managed to make her feel at home, but she knew it was right.

"Ok, so we'll bag up these letters and lets get back to the precinct. We have paper work to fill out and then an awards ceremony to get to!"

* * *

Back at the precinct Beckett had Mr Martiloni sign his confession and explain what had happened. He had been seeing Montana for a few months, and they would always meet in a room at the hotel. He didn't want anyone knowing about the affair because of his wife and kids. On the day of the murder, he had bought her a new necklace but she refused to remove the old one. When he realised it was from Mark, her ex-boyfriend, he became jealous. He ripped the necklace from around her neck and pushed a pillow into her face and said that he would remove it only when she said she loved him, but he held it there too long. He never meant to kill her, he didn't know what made him do it. Jealousy had overtaken his body. When he realised what he had done, he couldn't tell anyone because he knew then that his wife was sure to find out about the affair, so he stole the suitcase, wrapped her up in bubble wrap and tape that they have in the hotel and put her in the bin. He wasn't expecting anybody to take a case from the bin, and he had wrapped her up in bubble wrap hoping that would prevent any animals from getting in and to prevent the smell from getting too bad and causing suspicion. The bins would have been emptied and no one would ever know what he did.

They asked him about the necklace he pulled off her neck. If they hadn't have found that they may not have solved the case. Mr Martiloni stated that he thought it was wrapped with her body, he didn't even go back to check.

Beckett had also asked about the incident in the car, they never found the car that ran them off the road. Mr Martiloni also confessed to that. At first, he thought trying to scare them off would stop them from looking, he didn't want to hurt them, he just wanted to frighten them enough so they wouldn't continue coming to the hotel asking questions. Castle thought this guy really had no idea what he was doing if he thought he could scare the cops.

When he was asked what made him decide that he was going to give himself up, Mr Martiloni had said that he felt guilty about what he had done, and although he did not like the idea of going to prison, if he had the choice between prison or a lifetime on the run, he would choose prison. "At least, I'll still get to see my kids, and my wife, if she still wants to see me," he had said.

With the case wrapped up, there wasn't a lot left to do, other than paper work.

Gates told Beckett to go home and get ready for her evening, "The paper work will still be there in the morning," she had said.

It wasn't often that Beckett saw this side of Gates, she was often a tough lady that wanted everything done right away and no going outside the box. Beckett knew though, that somewhere inside, there was a kind-hearted woman who just liked to get the job done.

Beckett dropped Castle home so he could get ready for the evening. He told her if she promised to look after his car, she could take it back to her place, get ready and then come pick him up. Of course, Beckett was not going to say no. Her car was still getting repairs, it would be ready in a couple of days, until then, she was sticking to Castle's Ferrari.

"Pick you up at 7 o'clock Castle, you better be ready!" she winked at him, and drove away as he entered the building.

"I'll be ready, I hope you'll be ready Beckett" he thought to himself smiling as he rode the elevator up to his loft.


	16. Chapter 16

**Here is the final chapter. Thank you to all who read this. I'm not sure when or if I'll write another story... it depends if I feel the need to write again.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Castle was all ready to go, he had one of his best suits on, was freshly shaven, and Alexis had helped him make his hair look perfect. He couldn't help but wonder what this night meant for him and his partner. He kept playing the words that he heard that morning before breakfast, over and over in his head. "He just made me feel safe, like nothing could harm me. He made me feel at home, and happy. He only has to be in the same room as me and I feel better," she had said. What did this mean for them? He hoped now that the case was over, they would be able to talk about it.

Beckett arrived a few minutes before 7. She reached his door, took a deep breath and knocked.

When Castle opened the door and saw her standing there, his knees went weak and he almost fell over.

Beckett saw and caught his arm. "Watch it Castle! Or you're going to hurt your other arm!"

"Kate," he said looking her from top to bottom. She was dressed in a long black dress with a sparkle that matched her twinkling eyes, and she was showing just the right amount of skin. "You look stunning. No better than stunning, gosh I don't know, I know words, but there's no word to explain how you look tonight."

Beckett bit her bottom lip nervously. "Thank you Castle, you don't look too bad yourself. I do have something to finish off your outfit though."

She pulled out a sparkly black bow tie to match her dress.

"I know it's kind of corny to have a matching tie, but we're partners, so I think we can be corny together."

"Kate," he said, "you're wrong. Tonight, we are not just partners. Tonight, I am your date.!"

She was surprised he had remembered what she had said in the hospital. "Ok well, dates can be corny together too!"

"Yes they can." Castle agreed smiling.

Beckett helped him put on his tie, it looked great. They looked great together. Tonight was going to be special.

Martha and Alexis came down to see how Beckett looked, and both agreed that she looked beautiful.

Alexis laughed at her fathers matching tie, but said she loved it. She told him he was not allowed to take it off all night, until he got home.

"So what time does the ceremony start?" asked Martha.

"About 8pm, it'll take about 30 minutes to get there, so we should probably get going or we'll get caught in the crowd trying to get in."

Castle kissed his mother and his daughter on the cheek and turned to walk out with Beckett.

Beckett turned to face the door and for the first time Castle saw the back of her dress. There was very little to it. The dress came down low and had just a couple of straps holding it in place.

"Well, shall we go then?" Castle said once he had recovered from the shock of her dress.

He placed his hand on the small of her back, and they were touching his skin to hers. It gave Kate goosebumps.

Together they walked her out of the loft and stayed silent on the way down the elevator and to Castle's car.

"So, there's a crowd at these events?" Castle asked.

"Well, I don't know actually. I just wanted to get going, I guess I'm just excited."

"For the award ceremony? I never imagined you to get excited about an award ceremony."

"No Castle, I was excited to get you all to myself again!" she said with a flirty smile.

He didn't know if she was serious or joking, but he was pretty sure there was definitely some truth in what she had said.

"Well, I'm glad you get me all to yourself for a while too, then!"

* * *

The awards ceremony was lovely. They were sat at table, and were served dinner. Then there was the usual big long speech by the person in charge. Castle, of course, wanted to skip this bit because he found it so boring. He kept whispering little comments in Beckett's ear, just trying to annoy her really, but she just kept nudging him, or kicking him under the table. Castle was having fun with it, even if she wasn't.

Beckett was one of the last ones to receive her award, Castle giving her the biggest cheer out of everyone in the room. He was allowed to, he was her "date" for the night. She had glared at him from the podium, which was her way of telling him to calm down. He was quite shocked, everyone was watching her, he thought she'd just ignore him. But he did as she wished and he stopped cheering so loud.

The night was over sooner than Castle had expected, it seemed Beckett had thought the same thing.

"Castle, would you come with me somewhere?" Beckett asked as they walked towards his car.

"Beckett, I'm already with you somewhere."

"No!" she gently slapped his shoulder. "I mean somewhere else."

"Sure, the night is young. No need to go home just yet. Where are we going?"

"You'll have to wait and see, just get in the car."

Beckett pulled in to a parking spot at Manhattan Beach.

"It's such a nice night out, I thought we could go for a walk and talk, just the two of us, no interruptions." She was finally doing it, she was finally going to find out exactly what their partnership was.

She pulled out her phone and hid it under the seat in the car. She really didn't want to be interrupted, Castle followed and soon his phone was hidden under the seat also. The two climbed out of the car, Beckett took off her heels and started making her way to the sand.

"Wait there, Beckett," Castle called after her. If she was going bare foot, so was he. He removed his shoes, checked that his feet didn't smell and put his shoes in the boot of the car. Luckily, there was no bad smells from either his feet or his shoes but, he didn't want to take any chances. The last thing he wanted was for them to get back to the car but not want to get in it because it smelt like smelly shoes.

Castle quickly caught up with Beckett who had watched him intently, laughing at him when she could see he was checking for smells.

They walked silently for a few minutes, Beckett trying to find the courage to say exactly what she wanted to say. Castle was just enjoying the time he was able to spend with her, he didn't mind if they weren't talking.

"Wow!" he said looking out at their surroundings. The pier was lit up with lights and everything was just amazing.

"Yes, it's amazing isn't it" Beckett responded. She took one arm and curled it through his. Their arms now linked, she leaned in to his body and rested her head on him gently as they walked.

Castle was once again surprised by her actions, but happy that she was so close.

"It's gorgeous," he said.

"It's perfect, isn't it Castle!"

"Yes, the way the ocean looks, against the sky, the lights, I need to come here more often."

"It's more than just the view, Rick. Everything about this night is perfect. Me, you, sand in our feet, nobody trying to hurt us, it's like we're free to actually live the life that we want to live."

"You know Kate, you can always live the life that you want, sometimes it's just a matter of acknowledging what it is you want. If you could have anything right now, what would it be? I don't know if I'll be able to get it for you, but I can do my best to make your dreams come true."

"You don't need to do anything like that," she said. "Right now, this very moment, I've got what I want."

"No phone to call you about a new murder?" he joked.

"You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you Castle!"

"Sorry, so right now, there's nothing you want, nothing at all?"

"No Rick, because you're already here with me. All I want is you!"

She let go of his arm and turned to face him. "Here we go then!" she thought.

"Rick, when I first met you, I really couldn't stand being in the same room with you for more than 5 minutes, never mind working with you, but now…" she paused. "Now, I couldn't imagine working 5 minutes without you."

"Kate…"

"Shhhh….," she quieted Rick putting her finger to his lips. "We've spent a lot of time together over the last couple of days, and to be honest, I've never felt so happy. Last night, as I lay with you, I felt more at home than ever before. This feels right Rick, I've never been so sure of anything before"

Castle was silent. He was taking in her words and trying to work out what to do with them. He quietly sat down on the ground, while Beckett watched him, waiting for him to say something.

"Rick?" she said. She suddenly had the thought that maybe he didn't feel the same after all. Had she just made the biggest mistake of her life?

"Kate, sit with me," he said as he reached for her hand. He pulled her down to sit in front of him between his legs and he wrapped his arms around her waist leaning in to her and resting his chin on her shoulder. The two of them sat cheek to cheek staring out at the water for a few moments.

"Kate," Rick knew exactly what he wanted to say now, nothing. He leaned to the side slightly and turned so he could look at her face. When she turned her head to look back at him, she knew there was no mistake made tonight, he wanted this as much as she did.

The gently moved towards each other and let their lips meet. The butterflies in Kate's stomach were going crazy. It was a gentle kiss, his lips soft on hers, they weren't making out like crazy overly hormonal teens, it was perfect and it said everything the two of them needed it to.

Their lips parted and they smiled at each other. Castle wrapped his arms tightly around Beckett and they looked out the ocean again. They sat there silently for a while before Beckett started to get up.

"C'mon then, we better get you home," she said.

* * *

On the car trip back to Castle's loft, they talked about the case, and how crazy the last few days had been. It wasn't long before they were at Castle's door. Beckett had walked him in this time.

"Tonight was wonderful, thanks Kate," said Rick.

"And thank you too, it was perfect" Kate replied.

Castle lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek, he kissed her again softly. It was just as perfect as the one on the beach.

Beckett was first to start pulling away. "I should go," she said and started taking a few steps back, and Castle lowered his hand, stroking her arm until he caught her hand and stopped her.

"Stay," he said. "Stay with me. This has been the perfect night, why end it now? The spare room is still free if that's what you're worried about, but I promise, I would never do anything to hurt you. We'll take it slow, make it right! I don't want to ruin us Kate!"

"Castle, I've got nothing with me."

"It doesn't matter, I'm sure between Alexis, mother and myself, we have everything you could possibly need."

Kate smiled, she did like the idea of staying again.

"Oh ok then," she said with a grin.

Rick opened the door and they entered the loft. Alexis and Martha must have both been in bed because it was dark. Rick switched on the light switch, and went to the kitchen pouring himself a glass of water.

"Would you like anything to drink?" he asked.

"No thanks, I think sleep is all I need right now," she said heading to his bedroom.

What? She was going to his bedroom! He was not expecting that.

"Do you have a t-shirt I can borrow," she called out.

Castle turned off the kitchen light and followed her into his room. He found her a t-shirt and she went into the bathroom to change. While she was changing in the bathroom, he changed himself into his bed gear, and climbed into bed.

When she came out he smiled at her beauty. His t-shirt was just long enough to cover her body, Castle thought himself to be a very lucky man. She looked just a beautiful in his t-shirt as she did in her long black dress.

She climbed into the bed next to him and lay down.

"Goodnight," she said as she closed her eyes. "Thank you for the perfect evening."

Castle turned off his desk lamp and the room was dark, he wiggled himself down into the bed himself, and started making himself comfortable.

"My side of the bed is cold!" he whispered to Kate.

"Feel free to join me over here" Kate said.

He rolled over to her and once again, wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her in close to his body. He never wanted to let her go.

"Goodnight Kate," he said placing a kiss to the back of her neck.

"Goodnight Rick!" Kate wriggle in as close as she could to his body, she wanted to feel all of him, knowing she was completely surrounded by his safe arms.

They both drifted off to sleep happily. Both knowing their partnership was more than just work now. Both knowing that this was the start of something new, and it was perfect.

* * *

**Sorry if anyone expected any "special" scenes... I don't write those :) **


End file.
